From 14th to 17th May 2023, a military delegation from NATO's Cooperative Security Division, led by its Director, Lieutenant General Francesco Diella travelled to Egypt to meet with senior diplomatic and military representatives to discuss their ongoing military cooperation and possibilities to deepen the existing partnership.
On the first day, after a visit to the memorial dedicated to the Unknown Soldier, the NATO delegation met with its Egyptian counterparts, led by Major General Khaled Megawer, Head of the Military Intelligence. It was an opportunity for both delegations to provide a series of briefings in areas of mutual interest, such as international cooperation, exercises and training as well as recent developments in the global and regional security environments. Lieutenant General Diella briefed the Egyptian delegation on the NATO's new Strategic Concept, emphasising how current challenges are deeply interconnected, the importance of international cooperation and the relevance of sharing common values and vision.
The NATO delegation then visited the new Sahel and Sahara Centre for Counter-Terrorism, which is supported by 25 African countries. Its Director, Major General Mohamed Abdel Basset, highlighted ongoing initiatives, with particular reference to the scheduled courses for Border Security, Cyber Security and more specifically for de-radicalization. He also underlined the Centre' strong interest in establishing a cooperation with NATO.
The second day started with a meeting hosted by H.E. Ambassador Nikolas Papageorgiou, Head of the Greek Embassy in Cairo and the NATO Contact Point Embassy (CPE) for Egypt, which was attended by numerous Allied diplomatic and military representatives present in the country. During the event, Lieutenant General Diella spoke of NATO's ongoing cooperation with Egypt and the importance of rapidly developing the new Individually Tailored Partnership Programme.
Shortly thereafter, the NATO delegation met with H.E. Ambassador Ehab Badawy, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The discussions focussed on the situation in North Africa, the relevance of border security and fight against terrorism in the region. Lieutenant General Diella addressed the advantages of Egypt becoming more interoperable with NATO, especially by taking part in the Operational Capabilities Concept.
The programme concluded with a visit to the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peace Building and Peace Keeping where the NATO Delegation was received by H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Abdel Lattif. This meeting was a significant opportunity to better understand the important links between the Africa Union and the Centre's network, which comprises of more than 50 peacekeeping centres across Africa.
