Emmanuel Macron receives Egyptian President Al-Sisi at the Elysée Palace
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace on Monday during an official state visit. The two presidents discussed regional crises, in particular the tensions in the Mediterranean related to Turkey.
The visit, which follows the French president's trip to Egypt in January 2019, aims to strengthen relations between Paris and Cairo, a "strategic partner" and "essential to stability" in the Middle East, as the AFP agency reports.
The two presidents discussed the problems stemming from regional crises, particularly that of Libya, and the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, which according to both countries are linked to Turkey's actions.
During his visit, Al-Sisi was also received by Jean-Yves Le Drian, the head of French diplomacy, who recently visited Cairo to ask for "appeasement" in the controversy caused by the publication of the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the French press.
This trip takes place three weeks after Egypt arrested three directors of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and dissolved this organisation, one of the last independent organisations fighting for the defence of human rights in that country, as denounced by HRW in a collective letter sent to Macron.
According to the organisation, these arrests took place in retaliation for the meeting between EIPR members and foreign diplomats, including from France, in early November.
After receiving President Al-Sisi in Paris in October 2017, Emmanuel Macron visited Egypt in January 2019; Egypt has become an important client of France in the field of armaments, particularly after having bought 24 Rafale fighter planes; during the visit the two leaders signed a series of contracts, particularly for the Cairo metro, but also publicly acknowledged their disagreements over human rights.
On Monday, according to some Israeli media such as the Jerusalem Post and Maariv, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will meet the Egyptian President Al-Sisi in Cairo in the coming weeks.
This trip will take place in a context of normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arab world following the agreements signed in September. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing an official visit to Egypt to discuss economic co-operation. For several months the Hebrew state has been pursuing a strategy of rapprochement with the Arab and African countries in particular.
According to the information currently available, it seems that negotiations are under way between officials from both countries to organise the meeting between Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the Israeli leader. This visit should enable both parties to strengthen their economic relations, in particular by organising a bilateral meeting between Israeli and Egyptian trade delegations to discuss joint economic projects.
If confirmed, this visit will form part of the diplomatic seduction operation undertaken by Israel with several Arab and African countries. Under the aegis of the United States. Netanyahu's visit to Cairo would be an indication of Egypt's openness to the new process of normalisation, but this will not be without future geopolitical consequences, according to The Arab Weekly.
