CAIRO —
Israel and Egypt plan to boost gas exports to Europe under an agreement signed
during a Cairo visit Wednesday by EU Chief Ursula Von der Leyen as the bloc
seeks to wean itself off Russian gas.
اضافة اعلان
Von der Leyen also
pledged food relief worth 100 million euros ($104 million) for Egypt, which has
been reeling from grain shortages as a result of the Ukraine war.
The European
Commission president had vowed on Tuesday, during a visit to Israel, to
confront Russia for its use of fossil fuels to “blackmail” European countries.
The memorandum of
understanding on gas exports between Egypt, Israel, and the EU was signed at
the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, the Egyptian petroleum ministry said.
In a joint press
conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Von der Leyen said the
memorandum comes as Europe seeks to “get rid of its dependency on Russian
fossil fuels”.
Under a landmark
$15 billion deal in 2020, Israel already exports gas from an offshore field to
Egypt, where it is liquefied and shipped to European countries.
But a significant
increase in gas exports from Israel via Egypt would require major long-term
infrastructure investments.
Von der Leyen also
pledged “immediate relief of 100 million euros” to support food security in
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, which has relied on Russia and
Ukraine for over 80 percent of its wheat.
She also pledged 3
billion euros in “agriculture, nutrition, water, and sanitation programs over
the next years here in the region”.
Sisi said Von der
Leyen’s first official visit builds on the recent “intense momentum” of
Egyptian relations with the EU.
During her Israel
visit, von der Leyen had accused Moscow of deliberately cutting off gas
supplied to European countries “in retaliation for our support to Ukraine”.
“This is a big step forward in the energy supply to Europe,
but also for Egypt to become a regional energy hub,” she said in Cairo, also
highlighting Egypt’s renewable energy potential.
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