It is a “historic” day, because a new agreement is signed with Egypt like the one with Tunisia, which for Italy means, first of all, putting a stop to the landings of illegal immigrants. But it is also the eve of the first real round of the trial for the murder of Giulio Regeni. A very delicate issue on which the Prime Minister, finally pressured by journalists, guarantees that Italy’s position will not change. For the Friulian researcher we must continue searching for “truth and justice”, but this certainly cannot prevent us from establishing relations with interlocutors like Cairo, increasingly more “strategic”, especially since the conflict broke out in the Middle East.
“Italy always tends to ask this question,” responds the Prime Minister in an improvised and quick press point, at the end of the official statements after the signing of the EU-Egypt joint declaration. But there is no trace of the Regeni case in the report (which comes only from the Egyptian side) of the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit with the European delegation. Today, furthermore, the center of the mission is, on the one hand, the 7.4 billion in aid that Europe will guarantee to Cairo between now and 2027 – of which 200 million will not be reimbursable for the management of immigrants – and, on the other , the ten memorandum between Italy and Egypt as a result of that Mattei Plan that the Prime Minister sponsors every time and that begins to take shape with the first projects with African countries.
Meloni arrives last in the Egyptian capital, after having participated in the morning ceremony in Rome at the Altare della Patria on the occasion of the Day of National Unity. Meanwhile, the other European leaders will meet for a working lunch at the hotel where they are staying, before heading to the Presidential Palace for the summit. Along with Ursula von der Leyen (“you can always count on Italy” to seek dialogue between the “two shores” of the Mediterranean, Meloni emphasizes) are the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, current president of the EU, the Greek The first Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis. All of them maintain bilateral negotiations with Al Sisi in which Gaza is, in fact, the recurring issue. The role that everyone recognizes the Egyptian president in mediating to reach that “ceasefire” that everyone is asking for, while underlining the support to the Palestinian population that the EU and Italy continue to provide. There is also the ad hoc signing, Meloni emphasizes, of a memorandum on health assistance, to provide assistance to civilians leaving the Strip and arriving in Egypt.
Cairo is considered by the EU to be a “reliable partner”, a “pillar of Mediterranean security”, as indicated in the joint statement which underlines that work will continue on “commitments to continue promoting democracy, fundamental freedoms and human rights”. humans”.
Precisely those who, questioned by the opposition in Italy, starting with the Democrats, and in Brussels, are not respected by Al Sisi’s government. “I read Elly Schlein’s criticisms,” but “I did not run to be secretary of the Democratic Party,” responds the Prime Minister, who also attacks. “With insults,” he reasons, “they recognize that Italy has taught us” about immigrants. The reply from the secretary of the Democratic Party is dry and he harshly criticizes “the agreements with regimes like the Egyptian one, which for years has covered up the murders of Giulio Regeni.”
Precisely the topic on which the President of the Government speaks most in the brief press point. “There is a process underway in Italy, we will continue trying to achieve something more,” says Meloni. But agreements, if they serve to guarantee alternative energy supplies to the Russians, if they serve to reduce landings, are made. Although there is still no “justice” for Giulio Regeni that his parents continue to invoke.