The first payment of €1bn is set to be made in the coming days by Brussels, he added. Abdelatty was speaking following talks with the EU’s High Representative on Foreign, Kaja Kallas, who described Egypt as an ‘indispensable partner’. That made it comfortably the most lucrative of the EU’s ‘cash for migrant control’ deals with countries in North Africa and the Maghreb. The Sisi government has emerged as an important regional ally of the EU on migration and energy, with the bloc keen to invest in its green hydrogen sector. Several Gulf states, as well as Israel and Syria, have agreed multi-billion dollar deals to obtain oil and gas from Egypt (AC Vol 67 No 1, Would-be Pharoah builds big at the pyramids).

Source: The North Africa Journal January 12, 2026 20:15 UTC