Egyptian-American relations have been solid for 100 years, and they cannot be compromised by the decisions of US state institutions, said Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry during his interview with journalists of national newspapers.
The interview, published on Friday, included discussions on Egypt’s relation with US and African countries, as well as its regional role to solve Middle East crises. It was attended by the head of the Press Syndicate Abdel Mohsen Salama, Editor in Chief of Al-Ahram Alaa Thabet, and other experts in Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic studies.
The minister continued that Egypt is very keen to maintain good relations with the US, which have already benefitted both sides. However, at certain times, their visions were incompatible, but this has never impacted Egypt’s understanding to the importance of this strategic relation.
Shoukry’s statement came as a clarification to concerns raised regarding the future of the relations after the American administration decided to cut nearly $100m in military and economic aid to Egypt and delayed almost $200m more in military financing to Egypt, pending human rights improvements. Following this, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 72th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 72) in New York in September.
As for African relations, Shoukry said that Egypt’s relations with African nations achieved a great leap, pointing out the president made 20 visits to Africa since his inauguration in 2014.
Moreover, Shoukry stressed that Egypt is exerting great efforts to fulfill the country’s effective historical regional and international role and to maintain balanced relations with the countries of the world based on mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of the countries.
Among topics discussed during the interview were the cutting of ties with Qatar, a crisis that is one of the top controversial issues worldwide, with no expectations on how it would end.
Asked about the updates on the crisis with Qatar, Shoukry explained that the four countries made it clear that Qatar should respond to the 13 demands and the 6 principles.
On 5 June, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain suspended all diplomatic ties with Qatar on accusation of supporting terrorism.
In a similar context, the US decided to reduce its participation in some joint military exercises in the Gulf region on the sidelines of the crisis between Qatar and its neighbours, according to Reuters. The US maintains close military ties with all Gulf states and conducts occasional training. It has military bases in a number of countries, including Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East.
