Sara Kira: Egypt is Europe’s gateway to getting rid of the scourge of illegal immigration and making economic advancement
The head of the European North African Centre stated in her meeting with the interviewer, Ihab Sobhi, on the recent visit of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to Hungary.
Dr. Sara Kira stressed that various countries of the world are now looking at Egypt as a leading country in the African continent, and the evidence is what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, as he indicated in official statements that President Sisi’s visit to Hungary indicates that there are common interests and axes between the two countries.
Illegal immigration
According to Ms. Kira, the illegal immigration file is one of the main axes for Europe, explaining that Egypt is a major element in it, according to her vision of what the Hungarian Prime Minister said, where he literally said achieving Egypt’s security at its sea and land borders is a very important thing for the various countries of Europe.
He also made it clear that Europe’s security does not start from the Serbian-Hungarian border, but rather from the Egyptian border, as Egypt did not allow the passage of any ship or boat of illegal immigration. This confirms that Egypt represents for Europe a successful model in combating the threat of illegal immigration, whether at the Egyptian internal level, or at the level of the policies it followed to protect its sea and land borders.
The Right-Wing Government in Hungary
Ms. Kira touched on the right-wing government ruling Hungary, explaining that this government is against all forms of illegal immigration, and at the same time praises the countries that have succeeded in confronting this scourge, stressing that Egypt is not only a country that was able to stand on its feet after the crises it was exposed to. Recently, it even helped Europe to deal with its priority files.
What does President Sisi’s visit mean?
In response to what President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit represents, and how the praise of Europe’s symbols for him and Egypt can be translated, Dr. Sarah Kira explained that it is necessary to first clarify what the Visegrad Summit is, as it represents several countries: “Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Egypt,”. She adding that these four countries set their priorities in relation to their geographical location and the similarity of their economic conditions, noting that Egypt can be described as economically better than some of these countries.
Dr. Sarah believes that Egypt is able to benefit from these countries from an economic point of view, so the “Visegràd” group set specific priorities that are not very different from the priorities of the European Union, but even though they are in the European Union, they are well aware that they are weaker than their counterparts from other strong countries in the European Union.
Ms. Kira clarified that Hungary, for example, is not in the “eurozoon”, as it is not yet economically qualified to be a member of the “eurozoon”.
According to Dr. Sarah, Hungary’s endeavour to enter the eurozone pack and its attempts to improve economically will make it gain a great deal of experience, on the one hand, Egypt can benefit from through comprehensive cooperation and bilateral relations between the two countries. On the other hand, Hungary will also benefit because Egypt already has better economic performance than it. As it predicts that Hungary will gain new experiences through Egypt that will qualify her for the “eurozoon”.
The importance of Egypt:
The professor of international affairs stressed that what we can conclude from these activities of the Visegràd summit is that Egypt is a safety gateway for Europe, as European countries are unusually afraid of illegal immigration. Legal or illegal, so these countries want to benefit from Egypt and its expertise in the face of illegal immigration, so that it does not fall into any economic crises.
Technology localisation:
In regards to these points that were addressed during the summit, raised by Hungarian President Jones Eder, regarding the need to reuse wastewater in Egypt. In addition to President El-Sisi’s talk that Hungary must find an agricultural environment to produce a product that is tolerant of drought and salinity. Ms. Kira said that these statements stem from Senior officials and during a major summit, which confirms that efforts will be made to complete these projects in an optimal manner.
Dr. Sara Kira believes that water treatment is an important matter for Egypt, but we must first pay attention to what we lack, which is the interest in the technology axis. By explaining that Egypt possesses human, natural and water resources, and that Egypt is characterised by large agricultural lands, engineers and farmers, but despite all these advantages, we lack technology.
Certainly, Egypt’s economic performance is better than the “Czech, Hungary, and Poland”, but what made these countries ahead of Egypt is their ability to be self-sufficient in some elements that depend on technology.
Ms. Kira concluded that what Egypt lacks is the interest in the localisation of technology, as we spend exorbitant money on importing manufactured things that were initially exported as raw materials abroad, which costs us very economically, noting that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi turned to this point, and he wants to be overcome. Completely, noting that overcoming this crisis will be through technology that will help us treat sewage without causing cancerous diseases or any other health problems for the Egyptian citizen.