The day is one of the “historic” ones, because a new agreement is signed with Egypt like the one with Tunisia, which for Italy means first of all putting a stop to the landings of illegal migrants. But it is also the eve of the first real round of the trial for the killing of Giulio Regeni. A very delicate issue on which the Prime Minister, in the end, pressed by reporters, guarantees that Italy’s position will not change. For the Friulian researcher we must continue to search for “truth and justice” but this certainly cannot prevent us from establishing relationships with interlocutors like Cairo, who are increasingly “strategic” especially since the conflict broke out in the Middle East.
“Italy tends to always ask this question”, replies the Prime Minister in an improvised and rapid press point, at the end of the official declarations after the signing of the joint EU-Egypt declaration. But there is no trace of the Regeni case in the report (which comes only from the Egyptian side) of the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit with the European delegation. Today, moreover, the heart of the mission was on the one hand the 7.4 billion in aid that Europe will guarantee to Cairo between now and 2027 – of which 200 million will be non-repayable for the management of migrants – and on the other about ten of memorandum between Italy and Egypt in the wake of that Mattei Plan which the Prime Minister sponsors on every occasion and which is starting to take shape with the first projects with African countries.
Meloni arrives last in the Egyptian capital, after having participated in the morning ceremony in Rome at the Altare della Patria for the National Unity Day. In the meantime, the other European leaders meet for a working lunch in the hotel where they are staying, before going to the Presidential Palace for the summit. Together with Ursula von der Leyen (“she will always be able to count on Italy” to seek dialogue between the “two shores” of the Mediterranean, underlines Meloni) there are the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, current EU President, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and the Cypriot President, Nikos Christodoulidis. They all have bilateral negotiations with al Sisi in which Gaza is actually the recurring theme. The role that everyone recognizes in the Egyptian president of mediation in arriving at that “ceasefire” that everyone is calling for, while at the same time underlining the support to the Palestinian population that the EU and Italy are continuing to give. There is also the ad hoc signing, underlines Meloni, of a memorandum on healthcare, to provide assistance to civilians who leave the Strip and arrive in Egypt.
Cairo is considered a “reliable partner” by the EU, a “pillar of Mediterranean security”, as stated in the joint declaration which underlines that work will continue on “commitments to further promote democracy, fundamental freedoms and human rights “.
Precisely those who – contested by the opposition in Italy, starting with the Dems, and in Brussels – are not respected by al-Sisi’s government. “I read Elly Schlein’s criticisms” but “I didn’t apply to be secretary of the Democratic Party”, she replies, in turn attacking the prime minister. “With the insults”, her reasoning, “they recognize that Italy has taught us” on migrants. She bristles at the rejoinder from the secretary of the Democratic Party who goes down hard on “agreements with regimes like the Egyptian one, which for years has been covering up for Giulio Regeni’s murderers”.
Precisely the topic on which the Prime Minister is most exposed in the brief press point. “There is a process in Italy that is going on, we will continue to try to achieve something more,” says Meloni. But the agreements, if they serve to guarantee alternative energy supplies to the Russian ones, if they serve to reduce landings, are made. Even if there is still no “justice” for Giulio Regeni that his parents continue to invoke.
ANSA Agency Meloni: “The EU-Egypt agreement is the best way to slow down the flow of migrants” – News – Ansa.it “Historic meeting in Cairo, proud of Italy’s role” (ANSA)
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