Egypt’s Ambassador in Rome Bassam Radi has offered the Italian parliament a comprehensive explanation of the regional situation in the Middle East amid the ongoing Gaza war.
The special hearing session called for by Italian Parliament, inviting was broadcast live by the Italian television.
The session aimed at understanding the Egyptian perspective, mainly pertaining to the economic, security, and strategic repercussions of the war on Egypt, and the regional and international security.
During the session, the Egyptian envoy emphasised that Egypt has been facing serious and diverse challenges, external and internal, a continuous and extended reality over long years.
He referred to the situation Egypt has been facing in its regional environment amid the political and security conditions, conflicts, and crises in the region on all axes and strategic geographic fronts.These has extended its complexity westward, eastward, and southward.
The situation is extremely complex, and events have imposed on Egypt, and exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19, followed by the Russia-Ukraine war on energy prices and food security he said.
He attributed Egypt’s stability amidst these crises to the strong and wise leadership of President Abdel Fattah ElSisi.
A major challenge of these crises is that Egypt is now hosting 9 million refugees, and migrants of various nationalities, who are enjoying all basic rights in the country, he said.
In addition, Egypt has prevented illegal migration from its northern coasts to Europe since 2016, and has exerted persistent efforts to combat terrorism, for the good of the entire Mediterranean region.
Rady also addressed Egypt’s efforts to address local economic and developmental challenges, alongside enhancing citizens’ rights to a decent life by improving basic services across the republic.
The Egyptian envoy highlighted Egypt’s strenuous efforts to contain the Gaza war, which directly took toll on a significant resource of foreign currency, namely the Suez Canal revenues, with a 50 per cent decrease due to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
After the unprecedented special hearing session for a foreign envoy at the Italian Parliament, Head of the Italian Parliament’s Committee on European Union Policies voiced gratitude to Egypt and President Sisi for their extraordinary efforts to achieve stability and security in the region.
