Yesterday was Europe Day, which coincides with the 45th anniversary of European-Egyptian bilateral relations and 50 years of regional co-operation.
Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Egypt Ambassador Christian Berger held a celebration, which Ambassador Ihab Nasr, Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs attended on behalf of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli.
The EU is marking Europe Day through a series of activities organised by the EU delegation and its member states in Cairo and Alexandria, including online events such as a video campaign entitled EU27@COP27.
Berger said in his speech that Europe Day recalls the visionary ideas of European leaders such as Robert Schuman to create an ever-deepening Union of sovereign European States “to end a millennium of war and bloodshed among the European peoples”.
“This plan, presented in a declaration on 9 May 1950, one day and five years after the end of a world war that had brought suffering and destruction on an unrivalled scale to Europe and far beyond, gave birth to an extraordinary peace project. For this achievement, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.”
Berger mentioned the Russian attack against Ukraine, which, he said, has been subjected to brutal, unprovoked aggression.
The EU is supporting partners affected by the Russian war through financial support under a dedicated Food and Resilience Facility, the envoy said.
“In the case of Egypt, it is €100 million,” he added.
As for Covid-19, the ambassador spoke of deliveries of millions of vaccines to Egypt from the EU.
“Our co-operation with a current active portfolio of well over €1 billion of grants, loans, and investments in Egypt covers every walk of life and hopes to benefit people all over the country in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030.”
Berger went on to say that 2022 is a special year as it marks 45 years of partnership with Egypt.
“We are strategic partners and 2022 will see more high-level visits.”
The main theme of this year’s celebration is climate and the environment in order to shed light on the commitments towards achieving a sustainable and comprehensive green transformation. This comes at the appropriate time as Egypt is gearing up for the UN Climate Conference (COP27) scheduled to be hosted in Sharm El Sheikh in November.
The ambassador said that Youth and Climate will thus be prominent during EU month.
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