Foreign relations of Egypt

Relations with Africa

In the 21st-century Egypt has encountered a major problem with immigration, as millions of Africans attempt to enter Egypt fleeing poverty and war. Border control methods can be "harsh, sometimes lethal." This has strained relations with Egypt's southern neighbors, and with Israel and the members of the EU as these immigrants attempt to move on to wealthier countries.

Egypt currently disputes sovereignty of the Hala'ib Triangle with Sudan, an area of land located on the Red Sea coast, between the political borders (at the 22nd circle of latitude) and the administrative boundary between the two countries.

Arab relations

The Arab League headquarters is in Cairo, and the Secretary General of the League is traditionally an Egyptian. Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Araby is the present Secretary General of the Arab League. Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali served as Secretary General of the United Nations from 1991 to 1996.

Egypt is on good terms with Libya, its western neighbor.

Egypt has fairly good relations with Sudan, its southern neighbor, although it has a land dispute with Sudan over the Hala'ib Triangle, a small area of land on the Egypt-Sudan border on the Red Sea coast. Sudan claims the area. Egypt's policy on Sudan is that it is in favor of a united Sudan. As such Egypt was not directly involved in the Sudan Peace Process that was hosted in Kenya under the auspices of IGAD and that gave the peoples of south Sudan the right to secede and form an independent state in 2011 after the long and brutal Sudanese civil war that cumulatively lasted more than 40 years and claimed over 2 million lives.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Egypt has been seeking to play a role in the resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Egypt played an important role in the negotiations leading to the Madrid Conference of 1991, which, under United States and Soviet sponsorship, brought together all parties in the region, including for the first time a Palestinian delegation, to discuss Middle East peace.

This support has continued to the present, with President Hosni Mubarak often intervening personally to promote peace negotiations. In 1996, he hosted the Sharm El-Sheikh "Summit of the Peacemakers" attended by President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.

In 2000, he hosted two summits at Sharm El-Sheikh and one at Taba in an effort to resume the Camp David negotiations suspended in July 2000, and in June 2003, Mubarak hosted President George W. Bush for another summit on Middle East peace process. Another summit was convened in Sharm El Sheik in early 2005, which was attended by Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. The Egyptian Chief of Intelligence, General Omar Suleiman, has played a substantial role in negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian sides and is highly respected on both sides.

Iran

In 1939, diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran were upgraded to ambassadorial level, and Youssef Zulficar Pasha was appointed as Egypt's first ambassador in Tehran. In the same year, Princess Fawzia of Egypt, the sister of King Farouk I, married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the then crown prince (later shah) of Iran. However, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Egypt's relations with Iran have been mostly strained. Egypt is the only Arab country not to have an embassy in Iran. Contentious issues include Egypt's signing of the Camp David Accords with Israel in 1979, its support for Iraq in Iran's eight-year conflict, the Islamic Republic's hailing of Khalid Islambouli, the late President Anwar Sadat's assassin as a religious hero, seeing as there was both a street and mural named after him (however, the honorer was changed to Muhammad al-Durrah, the 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot and killed during the outset of the Second Intifada), and close Egyptian relations with the United States, and most of the Western European countries. In 2007, relations between the two have thawed in the fields of diplomacy and economic trade, only to collapse during the Gaza War (2008–09) when the Iranian and Egyptian politicians exchanged blames over inaction towards the escalation. Despite wavering tensions between Tehran and Cairo, the two countries are members of the OIC and the Developing 8

In 2010, leaked diplomatic cables revealed that Mubarak expressed animosity toward Iran in private meetings, saying the Iranian leaders are "big, fat liars", and that Iran's backing of terrorism is "well-known". According to one American report, Mubarak views Iran as the primary long-term challenge facing Egypt, and an Egyptian official said that Iran is running agents inside Egypt in an effort to subvert the Egyptian regime. he also stated that if Iran will reach a nuclear weapons, Egypt will also consider reaching such weapons.

Iraq

Since 1983, Iraq has repeatedly called for restoration of Egypt’s “natural role” among Arab countries. In January 1984, Iraq successfully led Arab efforts within the OIC to restore Egypt’s membership. However, Iraqi-Egyptian relations were broken in 1990 after Egypt joined the UN coalition that forced Iraq out of Kuwait. Relations have steadily improved in recent years, and Egypt is now one of Iraq’s main trade partners (formerly under the Oil-for-Food Programme).

Israel

The state of war between both countries which dated back from the 1948 Arab–Israeli War ended in 1973 with the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty a year after the Camp David Accords. Since then, relations have improved. Egypt has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a general consulate in Eilat. Israel has an embassy in Cairo and a general consulate in Alexandria.

Being a pioneer of peace making in the region and driven from its belief that a peaceful Middle East is the best solution for the development of Egypt, the third Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's groundbreaking trip to Israel in 1977, the 1978 Camp David Accords, and the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty represented a fundamental shift in the politics of the region; from a strategy of confrontation to one of peace as a strategic choice. Egypt was subsequently ostracized by other Arab states and ejected from the Arab League from 1979 to 1989.

However, due to circumstances of today's Israeli-Palestinian conflict, full normalization of relations between these two countries is still halted and sometimes fought against in both countries. The Egyptian ambassador to Tel Aviv is often withdrawn, and the peace has been called a cool peace due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jordan

Diplomatic relations between the Egyptian and Jordanian government existed since Jordan became independent in 1946. On April 6, 1972 the Egyptian government severed relations in protest for a Jordanian plan for federation with the West Bank, which didn't take PLO interests unto considerations. These relations were restored on September 11, 1973. They were severed again in 1979, this time by the Jordanian government, in protest for the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Following the outbreak of the Lebanon War of 1982, the US government put pressure on both governments to reach accommodation for the purpose of formulating a joint peace strategy vis-a-vis the Israeli government, and relations were restored on September 25, 1984.

Libya

After the neighboring countries of Egypt and Libya both gained independence in the early 1950s, relations were initially cooperative. Libya assisted Egypt in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Later, tensions arose due to Egypt's rapprochement with the west. Following the 1977 Libyan–Egyptian War, relations were suspended for twelve years. However, since 1989 relations have steadily improved. With the progressive lifting of UN and US sanctions from 2003–2008, the two countries have been working together to jointly develop their oil and natural gas industries.

Morocco

Since independence, the two nations have maintained warm relations. Both being predominantly Arab countries they are members of the Arab League, GAFTA, WTO, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Council of Arab Economic Unity and the United Nations.

Somalia

Relations between the territories of present-day Egypt and Somalia stretch back to antiquity. In the Middle Ages and early modern era, the various Somali Sultanates also maintained close relations with their counterparts in Egypt.

During the ensuing colonial period, Egypt and Somalia kept close ties through the UN delegate to Somalia Kamal El Din Salah, who supported the territorial integrity of the Somali territories. Upon independence of the Somali Republic in 1960, Egypt was among the first nations to recognize the nascent country. In 1969, Egypt and Somalia were among the founding members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Both nations are also members of the League of Arab States.

After the start of the civil war in Somalia in 1991, Egypt maintained diplomatic relations with the Transitional National Government and its successor the Transitional Federal Government, and supported their state-building initiatives. As part of the International Contact Group, the Egyptian authorities participated in various global summits in support of the Somalian peace process, including the Khartoum Conference in 2006, the Djibouti Conference in 2008, and the Cairo Conference in 2010.

The subsequent establishment of the Federal Government of Somalia in August 2012 was welcomed by the Egyptian authorities, who re-affirmed Egypt's continued support for Somalia's government, its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Sudan

Egypt and Sudan have enjoyed intimate and longstanding historical ties, seeing as they are each other's closest allies in the North African region. The two countries are connected by various cultural ties, and political aspirations.Sudan showed great solidarity with Egypt in its Camp David peace initiatives with Israel in the late 1970s. In 2008, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urged the two countries to focus on two specific projects: the Aljazera project which aims to cultivate some two million acres (8,000 km²) of land in Sudan, and a joint project to improve food security in agricultural and meat production.

European Union

European Union relations with Egypt are based on a partnership relation within the Euro – Mediterranean and Middle East area, which is of vital strategic importance and a key external relations priority for the EU.

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership launched at the 1995 Barcelona Conference between the European Union and its originally 12 Mediterranean Partners: Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and the Palestinian Authority. Libya currently has observer status at certain meetings. Since the enlargement, in May 2004 and January 2007, the co-operation covers 35 countries, the EU of 27, including Cyprus and Malta and the 10 Mediterranean Partners.

Egypt has also taken an active role regarding Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, such as its participation in the technical meeting of which it was the speaker for the Arab group. Additionally, the first meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary assembly was co-chaired by an Egyptian.

Egypt has been one of the leading recipients among the Mediterranean partners in terms of total funds received from the MEDA programme, the principal financial instrument of the European Union for the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. It is focused on policy-led, national structural reform and liberalisation programmes with a sector-wide approach.

The EU is Egypt’s biggest trading partner currently accounting for 42% of Egyptian exports and 37% of imports, with the balance of trade still in the EU's favour. Trade between the EU and Egypt has risen by more than 5% in the last five years to reach around 11.6 billion euro in 2004. Egypt’s main exports to the EU in 2004 were energy (39%), textiles and clothing (15%), agricultural products (9%), and chemicals (5%). Major imports from the EU were power generating machinery (21%), chemicals (16%), transport equipment (16%), and food and agricultural products (10%). Egypt has a serious but improving trade deficit that has put considerable pressure on the Egyptian pound.

Trade relations with the EU are good although there are several outstanding trade and phyto-sanitary issues. These range from specific market access issues and difficulties for businesses facing a highly regulated and complex system through to restrictions in the export of agricultural goods (potatoes) and fishery products because they do not conform with EU quality norms.

Egypt is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer.

Some time after the starting of the Arab Spring, in March 2011 the European Union adopted the joint declaration ‘ A partnership for democracy and shared prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean', aimed at making a number of initiatives in the field of civic society support, financial assistance and further access to the EU market dependent upon advancement in the democratization process.

As far as Egypt was concerned this declaration envisioned the further deepening of the previous Free Trade Agreement stipulated in 2004, geared towards the inclusion of areas such as trade in services, government procurement, competition, intellectual property rights, and investment protection. To the 2011 declaration, a preliminary phase of the negotiations followed in June 2013, when the EU and Egypt began an exploratory dialogue on how to deepen trade and investment relations, in particular through the possible negotiation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA).

Following the bloody crackdown in August 2014, European Union discussed the possibility of revising provision of aid to Egypt. However, divisions over the appropriate stance to adopt among European diplomats persisted, coupled by the fear that the vacuum might be soon filled by other actors, following a Saudi Foreign Minister's declaration that the Kingdom was ready to step in and those of Prime Minister Hazem al Beblawi about the possibility to appeal to Russia for foreign aid. Therefore, the only measure upon which the Foreign Ministers agreed was to suspend the sale of arms and materials that could be used for repression, but fell short to halt aid program which could damage civil society.

Earlier in July 2013, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton had visited Egypt in an attempt to promote reconciliation among the parties involved. She is credited for being the only foreign diplomat to get access to deposed president Mohamed Morsy. In an official statement released at the end of a following visit held in April 2014, the Representative raised the issue of the death penalties and incarceration of journalists and activists. At the same time, her declarations about former general al Sisi’s bid for candidacy to the presidential elections as “difficult” but “brave” sparked harsh criticism among supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, who claimed the Representative, who advanced logistical reasons, did not make any efforts to get in touch with them and members of the Anti-Coup alliance.

In April 2014 European Union agreed to conduct electoral monitoring, for the first time, in occasion of the Presidential elections scheduled for 26/27 May 2014. Other organizations declined to join, as in their opinion this would legitimize an unlawful take on power.

International involvement

Egypt played a key role during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf crisis. President Mubarak helped assemble the international coalition and deployed 35,000 Egyptian troops against Iraq to liberate Kuwait. The Egyptian contingent was one of the largest in the coalition forces, along with the U.S., U.K. and Saudi Arabia.

In the aftermath of the Gulf War, Egypt signed the Damascus Declaration with Syria and the Persian Gulf states to strengthen Persian Gulf security. Egypt continues to contribute regularly to United Nations peacekeeping missions, most recently in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Egypt, which has itself been the target of terrorist attacks, has been a key supporter of the U.S. war against terrorists and terrorist organizations such as Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and has supported the Iraqi Governing Council.

On December 25, 2006, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit called for end to "nuclear double standards" where sanctions are imposed on Iran for enriching uranium, but the Israeli nuclear program is not subject to any control by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Egypt is member of ABEDA, ACC, ACCT (associate), AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AU, BSEC (observer), CAEU, CTBT, EBRD, ECA, ESCWA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAS(observer), OAU, OIC, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UPU, WCO, EFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, and WTrO. Egypt is 1 of only 7 U.N. members which is not a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.