Egyptian Foreign Minister: Enhancing Regional Cooperation to Counter Rising Security Threats
Dr. Badr Abdelatty stresses activating the Counter-Terrorism Center and restoring the effectiveness of the G5 Sahel Joint Force.
Translated by Qiyas from الأنباء — Original source
Cairo – Khadija Hamouda: Dr. Badr Abdelatty, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Egyptian Expatriates Affairs, stressed the necessity of enhancing regional cooperation to confront escalating security threats in the Sahel-Sahara region, foremost among them being terrorism and transnational organized crime.
This came during the minister’s address at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), held in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, where he outlined Egypt’s vision for strengthening the Community’s effectiveness to support security, stability, and development in the Sahel-Sahara region.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Nader Zaki, stated that Minister Abdelatty emphasized the importance of activating the Community’s specialized mechanisms, particularly the Sahel-Saharan Center for Counter-Terrorism hosted in Cairo. He highlighted Egypt’s efforts to establish and equip the Center’s permanent headquarters and support its training activities, thereby contributing to achieving stability.
In the same context, Minister Abdelatty affirmed that the priority at the current stage is to move from resuming meetings to restoring institutional effectiveness, and from affirming general principles to implementing practical programs with measurable results, especially since the Community possesses the genuine foundations that qualify it to play a more effective role in enhancing security, stability, and development in the Sahel-Sahara region.
He stressed the importance of having stable and transparent financial bases, regular resources, and collective commitment to the obligations assigned to member states.
The Foreign Minister also affirmed Egypt’s support for efforts to enhance the Community’s role and to continue cooperation with member states and the Executive Secretariat in areas of capacity building, exchange of expertise, and counter-terrorism, emphasizing the importance of reaching practical outcomes that contribute to restoring the effectiveness of the Community’s institutions and enhancing its role in achieving security, stability, development, and regional integration, thereby meeting the aspirations of the peoples of the region.
