Greek Community of Alexandria

Tag: Egypt

  • Egypt, EU launch new phase of strategic partnership: Foreign ministry

    Egypt, EU launch new phase of strategic partnership: Foreign ministry

    The Egyptian foreign minister’s visit to Brussels has launched a new phase of strategic partnership between Egypt and the European Union, paving the way for an EU-Egypt association agreement in the upcoming period, the ministry said on Tuesday.

    The agreement — which has been under negotiation since February 2016 — would frame the country’s relationship with European institutions over the next three years.

    In an official statement, foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his European counterparts have compiled a document of each side’s priorities, to guide further negotiations on the agreement.

    On his visit, Shoukry met with 28 European foreign ministers, making it “the first meeting of its kind with a non-EU minister this year,” the statement read.

    The meetings tackled EU-Egyptian relations. Shoukry discussed ways the EU could support Egypt economically and politically, given that the country’s stability is an essential European interest, the statement read.

    Shoukry also discussed economic, social and political developments in Egypt and the challenges the country faces in each of these sectors.

    “Egyptian national institutions bear the responsibility of safeguarding human rights in Egypt,” Shoukry told his EU counterparts, according to the statement, adding that “human rights include social and economic rights; they are not restricted to political rights.”

    The minister arrived in Brussels Sunday for an official visit, on which he met with EU officials including the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Vice President of the European Commission and the EU Commissioner for Home and Migration Affairs, along with the foreign ministers of 28 EU countries.

    “The visit was successful because Egyptian diplomats built a bloc of Egypt supporters within the EU, represented by countries that have made remarkable progress in cooperation with Egypt such as Greece, Cyprus, and Hungary,” the statement read.

    At a meeting with the EU Commissioner for Home and Migration Affairs and the German and Austrian foreign ministers in Brussels, Shoukry reiterated Cairo’s refusal to establish camps to house irregular migrants attempting to travel to Europe, saying “refugees and migrants live freely and enjoy the services provided to Egyptian citizens.”

    During his visit, Egypt’s FM also met with Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, to discuss political and security challenges in the Middle East.

    An EU delegation is set to visit Egypt mid-March to continue talks on the association agreement.

    During negotiations, Cairo has assured the EU that the agreement would be based on Egypt’s 2030 development plan.  

    (english.ahram.org.eg)

  • Dahab’s Underwater Museum: a Kiss of Life to the Red Sea Ecosystem

    Dahab’s Underwater Museum: a Kiss of Life to the Red Sea Ecosystem

    When the IDive Tribe started an underwater museum in Sinai’s Dahab four years ago, people thought they were insane. Now, the team of divers is planning their second museum in Hurghada.

    February witnessed the latest addition to the museum: a statue to honor the Egyptian diver and holder of the world record of the deepest dive, Ahmed Gabr.

    The new statue looks like the Oscar’s statue, which in turn resembles the Ancient Egyptian God Petah. The idea and the execution are of the artist and assistant lecturer at the University of Arts in Luxor, Hamed Mohamed. The statue is made up of 100 pieces of granite.

    Aiming to help in conservation of the Red Sea coral reefs through decreasing the pressure on them by creating alternative dive sites, each statue is unique in its own way.

    “The gallery consists of several artworks statues made by Egyptian hands and representing our culture,” said IDive founder Abdelrahman Elmekkawi.

    Additionally, the museum serves as a new home for coral reefs. With rising global temperatures and the damage of human activity, coral reefs worldwide are in danger. The divers hope to “plant” the sea, with every centimeter needing at least ten years for growth.

    The location of the museum is strategic, explains Elmekkawi. Scientists expect that in 70 years, most of the coral reefs all over the world will die,  except those inhibiting the Red Sea and the Arab Sea due to class C and D zooxanthellae temperature resistance (above 30 degrees). This makes the region a donor site for the regeneration all over the world seas

    The first phase of the museum placed three statues – a donkey-shaped table and two chairs – at the Magra Al Seil area. A year later, an additional three statues were located near the lighthouse: statues of the Gods Horus and Bess, and a life-size elephant sculpture, weighing almost a ton, constructed from metal junk by Mohamed and a student of his.

    The costs of the statues were raised from the group’s personal money, and 150 IDive members contributed volunteer work.

    The next planned statue will be a ten meter pyramid, which divers can enter. Hamed plans to make drawings on one of the sides, while the artwork done on the other sides would involve international collaboration through inviting 50 art schools from around the world to take part of the project.

    In addition to the Dahab underwater museum, the pyramid might start a new conservation and attraction sight in Hurghada.

    (egyptianstreets.com)

  • Toward a Judging Free Society: Human Library Comes To Egypt

    Toward a Judging Free Society: Human Library Comes To Egypt

    There is a library in Denmark where people replace books, and conversations replace silent reading, ones that shatter societal stereotyping and prejudices. This unique experience is now coming to Cairo.

    Human Library Egypt is holding a one day event at Sheraton district on Friday, with five “books” discussing drug addiction, refugees, special needs, the first single lady adopting a child, and a different looking girl whose features are regarded as ugly and unacceptable by those around her.

    “The personalities represented in Human books are mainly ones that suffered from widespread stereotypes in the Egyptian society,” said Amira Rizk, one of the organizers of the event.

    Some of the books approached Human Library Egypt after coming across the idea through social media because they wanted their story to be heard by others and their challenges to be understood. Other books were approached by the initiative after knowing about them either through an article, TV program or talks featuring them on any medium

    “We are hoping that this experience on the long term creates a free judging society where people become more and more tolerant to others by learning to accept differences that s an integral part of creation,” Rizk said.

    Implemented in 70 countries, Asmaa Ismail brought the idea to Egypt. Ismail believes in the power of healing of people through self expression, and in the impact people can do by just listening to others without even offering solutions.

    For the execution, she checked the official Human Library page and applied to be one of the organizers. Her request to bring the idea from Denmark to Egypt was approved and she became the first representative for them in Egypt. The first event was held in May 2016 on a small scale, where the books were mostly volunteers from her network then gradually the idea started spreading.

    (egyptianstreets.com)

  • Egypt Plans to Implement ‘Electronic Visa Application System’ to Attract More Tourists

    Egypt Plans to Implement ‘Electronic Visa Application System’ to Attract More Tourists

    In a step that aims to facilitate visa procedures to tourists, Egypt’s Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar met with Telecommunication Minister Yasser Al-Qady to discuss the development of a new system that will allow issuance of electronic visas.

    The step is expected to positively affect the tourism sector and the rate of incoming tourists to Egypt, as it will facilitate the procedures of obtaining the Egyptian visa.

    President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ordered to accelerate the implementation of the E-Visa system during his meeting with the Supreme Council for Tourism. Travelers will be able to obtain their Egyptian visa through an online system that will speed up the procedures for obtaining visas and smoothen the process undertaken in the airports upon their arrival.

    Abdel-Ghaffar said the Interior Ministry is keen on implementing the new system and also upgrade the security technological systems it has. Al-Qady stressed the importance of the cooperation between the two ministries in order to achieve the highest quality possible of services for foreign nationals in Egypt.

    Member of Parliament Mohamed Al-Massoud said the E-Visas system will help boost tourism in Egypt.

    (egyptianstreets.com)