EU to strengthen strategic partnership with Egypt -- High Rep.

CAIRO, Jan 8 (KUNA) -- High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas affirmed that Egypt is "an indispensable partner" to the EU.
"Just last year, we opened a new chapter in our relationship with the first ever EU-Egypt Summit," she said at a joint press conference with Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty following their meeting in Cairo on Thursday.
"Through our Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership, we are delivering concrete results in many areas, from trade and investment to security and science. "As part of this partnership, the EU is providing Egypt with EUR five billion in loans to strengthen your competitiveness and also the green transition," Kallas told her host. On her talks with Abdelatty, she said, "Today, our discussions focused above all on the (Middle East) region itself." "Egypt's diplomatic leadership has been crucial in preventing further destabilisation in the Middle East, and we deeply value your role. "In Gaza, the situation is extremely severe still. Hamas refuses to disarm. It blocks progress to the next states of the peace plan. "At the same time, Israel also is restricting the international NGOs, that is putting humanitarian aid access at serious risk. "Without the NGOs, aid cannot reach the necessary scale in Gaza. There is no justification for the humanitarian situation in Gaza to have deteriorated to the current level. "We also spoke about Gaza's recovery and governance. It is important that the plans for a technocratic committee to administer Gaza and a stabilisation force move forward without delays. Any power vacuum will just benefit extremists.
"We are, as European Union, the largest donor in Gaza. We support the Palestinian Authority's reforms and provide funding. "Right now, the European Union is working to expand our two missions on the ground, including the capacity to train more Palestinian police. "I believe that in this area, the European Union and Egypt can work closely together. "Syria still faces enormous challenges. The clashes in Aleppo over the last days show how fragile the security situation remains.
"After (president Bashar) Assad's fall, the European Union was one of the first - or actually the first one - to ease the sanctions, to help the country to rebuild. "But it does not only do the trick. Also, investors need to trust the economy, and that is why the reforms and the rule of law are extremely important. EU Foreign Ministers recently decided to move forward with the new EU-Syria political partnership. And today we discussed the state of Syria's tradition and how we could better support governance and security sector reforms, because a stable Syria is in the interest of Egypt, but it is also in the interest of Europe," the High Representative went on. Dealing with Lebanon, she said the country faces "a dangerous moment." "Hezbollah's insufficient disarmament efforts and continued Israeli strikes risk dragging the country back into escalation. "The EU is now discussing options to strengthen Lebanon's internal security forces, because it is clear that Lebanon needs more support to extend the state authority to all parts of its territory," Kallas explained.
Asked on the EU stance on the recent US takeover of Venezuela, Kallas - also Vice-President of the European Commission, said, "The international law should be respected." "We know that international law gives two rights to use force: one is for self-defence, and the other is in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution. "So, whoever uses force needs to justify this as well. We have been very firm on the UN Charter. We have been very firm on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries - that has to be respected," Kallas explained.
On the low-key messages of US plans to take over Greenland - autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, the EU High Representative acknowledged that "the messages that we hear -- are extremely concerning." "If this is a real threat, and if it is, then what would be our response? As Denmark has been a good ally for the United States, all these statements are not really helping the stability of the world --. "The international law is very clear, and we have to stick to it. It is clear that it is the only thing that protects smaller countries, and that is why it is in the interest of all of us. "And we discussed this today, as well, that we uphold the international law on all levels," she added. Regarding Egypt's economic reforms, Kallas said, "Europe sees Egypt as an indispensable partner." "And we are currently also discussing and hopefully getting the decision done on the macro financial assistance that we are giving to Egypt to deliver on reforms and also providing expertise in this regard.
"Then, of course, we have issues that we were discussing, where additional investments could come.
The green transition is very important to the European Union, there is a lot of potential there," she added. (end) mm.gb