Egypt, 2025

I now give the floor to His Excellency Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdel-Ati, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates of Egypt. In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Your Excellency Annalena Baerbock, President of the General Assembly. Your Excellency António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations. Our celebration today of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations was supposed to be an occasion, an opportunity to reflect on the journey of this organization, an opportunity to think of the achievements of the organization in maintaining international peace and security and ensuring prosperity and development for all and establishing an international order based on international law that are applied by all, that apply to all to preserve the dignity and rights of all. However, the reality of this international organization today, 80 years after its establishment, has nothing to do with these noble goals. The multilateral international system is facing challenges. Its pillars are being eroded. It's fluid as a result of crimes being committed in full view of the international community. The international community is standing idly by as a spectator before the systemic violations of international law that undermine the international system. You're seeing double standards across the board, but especially in the Middle East. The Middle East is at a point of implosion. The basis of stability, peace and security are absent. There is no noteworthy respect of international legitimacy. Our Palestinian brethren are falling victim to the most heinous Israeli actions. It's a war, a wanton, unjust war waged against defenseless civilians for a sin they did not commit driven by an extremist ideology that only sees destruction, killing and systematic starvation. A toxic narrative, an incitement to hatred and violence. The aggression is transpiring without accountability and it has affected one country of the region after the other. The most latest what we've seen is the wanton aggression against brotherly Qatar. Egypt is one of the first to anchor the pillar of peace in the region when President Sadat visited Jerusalem in a historic visit in 1979. Egypt feels concerned and feels responsible at the same time. Two years following this wanton aggression against Gaza, following the daily violations in the West Bank, the foundations of peace that we have been laying for 75 years are now being threatened. In light of these difficult circumstances, Egypt presents its vision to deal with the situation in the Middle East and the international system as follows. We express our appreciation and gratitude to President Donald Trump, which announced his full commitment and his willingness to work with the leaders of the region to end this unjust war against Gaza according to an integrated, comprehensive vision that stops the bloodshed, that ensures security for all, that restores the foundation to bring back lost trust. Egypt is willing, is fully willing and is fully committed to building on the vision by President Trump to restore stability, to end the war, to open a political horizon that paves the way towards the establishment of the Palestinian state. To also release hostages and detainees and to heal all wounds, the wounds of the orphans, the wounds of the injured, the wounds of the hungry in the Gaza Strip. And put an end to the arrogance of might and to put it aside and to restore hope for tomorrow. Egypt, since the outbreak of this crisis, have done its utmost to reach a ceasefire, a ceasefire that is sustainable in Gaza in partnership with brotherly Qatar and the United States of America. We worked on resuming the entry of humanitarian aid without obstacles to address the starvation that is made by Israel, created by Israel. We must restore the basic necessities of life. The entry of humanitarian aid must be a priority for the international community. Together, we all must ensure the provision of humanitarian aid as soon as possible and at scale. And we also must work together to protect civilians. We reiterate that we categorically reject any scenarios to forcibly displace the Palestinian people. This would be a crime of ethnic cleansing. We say this very clearly. Egypt is not and will not be a gate to liquidate the Palestinian cause. We will continue to support the resilience of the defiant Palestinian people that is holding on to its national territories. We will never, never be a partner in a new Nakba, bringing humanitarian tragedies, even more humanitarian tragedies. Egypt also presented a plan for reconstruction and recovery that was accepted at the Arab, Islamic, and international level. We commend the invaluable role of UNRWA, the indispensable role of UNRWA. It is providing valuable support to millions of Palestinian refugees. We also commend the role of the United Nations and its specialized agency. We call upon the countries of the world to provide the necessary and sustainable support to UNRWA. The continued Israeli occupation, the genocide transpiring today in the Gaza Strip, depriving the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, most notably the right to establish its independent state along the lines of the 4th of June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital. This hollows out any narrative of peace and security in the region. In this regard, we express our full support to the conference on the two-state solution led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France. We commend the courageous decisions by states that have recently announced that they do recognize the independent free state of Palestine. Israel cannot be secure when others are not secure. The region cannot see stability without an independent state of Palestine. Palestinian resolutions contain the parameters necessary to settle the conflict of the region. What we need is insight, wisdom, political will, and understanding the lessons of the past. We need foresight. In this context, we warn of the continuation of oppressive policies and irresponsible Israeli practices to close the door on peaceful coexistence and regional cooperation. In light of these challenges, Egypt and Saudi Arabia presented a joint vision for security and cooperation in the region adopted by the League of Arab States. This would be the foundation for a new vision, a new vision of a region where all countries enjoy balanced security, comprehensive security. We extend the hand of peace. Don't fail children that look to a bright future, young people that wish to build and restore. Don't fail the elderly that want to live in dignity and peace. I quote President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, peace is Egypt's strategic choice to ensure a secure and stable future for the peoples of the region. Second, Egypt looks at the conflict in the region from a perspective of international law, from a perspective that gives precedence to the sovereignty of states and settling disputes by peaceful means and maintaining national states and national institutions. Also, counterterrorism. These are all bases for stability. In this context, Egypt stresses the importance of supporting brotherly Sudan that is going through a delicate juncture in its history. All efforts must be made. We strongly support maintaining and preserving the institutions of the Sudanese state, including the Sudanese National Army. We're working in cooperation with the Sovereignty Council and international partners as part of the international quartet to restore stability, peace, and security in the Sudan based on national Sudanese ownership to fulfill the aspirations of the brotherly Sudanese people. We also firmly support brotherly Libya and its national institutions. Presidential elections, parliamentary elections must be held simultaneously as soon as possible. It is important for all foreign forces and mercenaries and foreign fighters to leave Libya. If we are serious about peace and security in Libya, this would consolidate stability and security and would unite Libyan institutions and allow it to extend its authority over all Libyan territory. The Yemeni crisis must be settled based on international parameters. We must maintain the security of navigation routes along the Red Sea. It is the lifeline of international trade. Egypt is one of the most affected parties from this escalation. We lost more than $9 billion revenues of the Suez Canal as a result of disruptions in international trade going through the Red Sea. The stability, security, and territorial integrity of Somalia is part and parcel of the security of the region. We call for making concerted efforts and mobilizing the necessary funding in order to activate the AU mission in Somalia. Egypt intends to contribute to this force with a military and police component. I also must strongly condemn repeated Israeli violations of the sovereignty of Lebanon and Syria. We condemn continued violations of Lebanese and Syrian territories. It is of utmost importance to respect the territorial integrity of Syria and Lebanon. Against this background, in light of these complex regional challenges, Egypt is playing a prominent humanitarian role. We are hosting more than 10 million refugees and displaced persons on our territory. We are providing an environment that respects their dignity, that respects their rights, and that ensures that they receive basic services without discrimination. Despite increasing burdens that go beyond our capacity, and I don't think that there is any other country in the world that is hosting such a number of refugees, providing this kind of services, and treating them as Egyptians, as I said, these burdens go beyond our capacity, especially in light of regional international economic crises. Nevertheless, Egypt continues to fulfill its moral and humanitarian responsibility. We believe it is important to share responsibility. The principle of shared responsibilities is contained in the International Convention on Refugees. And Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is leading the way to settle disputes. Our region has seen targeting nuclear facilities that are subject to the AIEA safeguard agreement, which is inconsistent with international law. For it we believe that cooperation, according to international law, is the pillar of mutual respect and the only way to ensure joint benefits. Experience has shown that unilateral measures deepen crises and increase gaps. Ethiopia saw that imposing a fatal compli and violating international law as part of its destabilizing policy in the Horn of Africa and the Eastern Nile basin, declared that the dam has been completed and what's happened just has happened. It is delusional, as it believes that Egypt will forget its rights when it comes to the Nile. There's those who pay lip service to international law, but we are ready to resort to justice, to resort to international arbitration. If intentions to actually abide by these mechanisms turn out to be true, if they turn to stalling, if they turn to threatening the fate of people in downstream countries, we will get back our rights and we will not be lax in that journey. International law allows us to protect our existential interests in the Nile basin. Fifth, we believe that restoring the United Nations and international financial institution is no longer a matter of choice. It's a necessity to ensure a balanced representation in the decision-making bodies at international level. Egypt is committed to the Zalwini consensus and the SIRT declaration to lift the historic injustice that has inflicted the African continent. We also believe it's important to provide concessional financing and address the debt crisis. In conclusion, once again, I stress that we look forward to building upon the outcomes of the four financing for development conference hosted by Spain in July to take effective steps to finance development. We also look forward to enhancing efforts for developing countries to have access to AI and digital technologies. At the COP conference hosted by Egypt, we made efforts to ensure we have a loss and damage fund, especially in light of crisis in climate financing. It's important to provide financing to developing countries without increasing the debt burdens on these countries. Ladies and gentlemen, the international landscape is critical and precarious at the moment. In light of our role, regionally, internationally, and in light of our historic role, we had to warn of the upcoming danger and present a roadmap to address this critical phase. We are at a critical juncture. We are at a critical juncture. Either the Middle East would go back to reason, to go back to international law, or we rush towards a state of chaos that some might think would be able to control by force, by the arrogance of force. However, experience and history has shown that using force would inevitably lead to a disaster, and the first to be affected by that are those who have used force. I stress that Egypt, as a founding member of the United Nations, remains, after 80 years of the existence of this United Nations, we remain committed to international law. We remain committed to enhancing multilateral action as we recognize that absence of international governance will affect us all. We have a negative impact on us all. There is no alternative to committing to international law and to enhance the implementation of international law. There is no alternative to holding violators of international law accountable. There is no country above the law. There is no country, whatever it is, that cannot be held to account. All this to maintain international peace and security, to achieve sustainable development, and to promote human rights. In conclusion, I quote President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, peace is not born out of force and bombardment. It's not born out of normalization that people reject. Peace is only built on understanding, equity, and justice. I thank you very much. I thank His Excellency, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Immigration, and Egyptian expatriates of Egypt.