Closer trade ties with Hungary + We’ve registered our opposition to GERD with the UN Security Council (again)
A boost to Egyptian-Hungarian trade + investment relations: Egypt and Hungary will form a joint committee to encourage trade and industry cooperation, according to a cabinet statement. The General Authority of Investment and Freezones (GAFI) also signed an agreement with the Hungarian Export-Import Bank to promote investment between the two countries.
Separately, our efforts to combat illegal immigration got a thumbs up from Hungary’s Foreign Minister, who praised Egypt’s efforts to slow down Europe-bound migrants through the Mediterranean, the Washington Post reports. He called on the EU to provide funding to help the Egyptian government in its efforts to fight illegal immigration.
Egypt goes back to the UN Security Council after Ethiopia powers up GERD: Egypt has sent identical letters to the UN Security Council (UNSC), Ethiopia, and Sudan, rejecting Ethiopia’s decision to begin generating power from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to Ahram Online. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry earlier this week issued a statement denouncing the milestone, saying it represented a “further breach of obligations” under the 2015 Declaration of Principles signed between the three countries. Sudan also slammed the move, which both countries fear would adversely impact their share of the Nile water.
It’s not the first time we’ve appealed to the UNSC on this: The council has repeatedly declined to weigh in on the hydropower dam dispute (most recently last September), despite concerted lobbying by Egypt and Sudan for a stronger stance against Ethiopia.