PRESIDENT Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi this week emphasised that defending national security was an ongoing process that required unwavering dedication, affirming that the cohesion and unity of the Egyptian people are the pivot of the state’s strategic protection policies and the essential guarantee for maintaining the security and stability of the nation.

Al-Sisi was speaking on Monday to a group of graduates of the Egyptian Military Academy. He said that developments over the past decades have brought the region to a historic crossroads, necessitating caution, deliberation and in-depth analysis before making any decisions. The president emphasised that the principles of the Egyptian policy are based on balance, moderation and positivity aimed at resolving crises rather than escalating them, in order to avoid slipping into “real dangers” that threaten regional security as a whole.

Within the same context the president spoke a day earlier during the graduation ceremony of a new class from the Police Academy. Speaking on the current regional turmoil, the president said “we should be concerned because the developments are serious and could expand the conflict in the region, impacting stability”. He stressed that Egypt has held a balanced, moderate and objective policy for years, especially amid the current circumstances on its western, southern and eastern borders, noting that if these conditions persist, they could lead to severe consequences for the region and the world.

Egypt has been feeling the brunt of the conflict in the region first-hand. Al-Sisi pointed out that Egypt had lost between 50 to 60 per cent of its Suez Canal revenue, amounting to more than $6 billion over the past eight months. The Suez Canal, one of Egypt’s top hard currency earners, achieved record revenues of $9.4 billion in fiscal year 2022-23. However, the canal’s revenues have been severely impacted by disruptions in the Red Sea due to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group on ships.

The president also addressed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), saying Egypt had used its political and diplomatic tools to prevent “potential evil”. The president said that Ethiopia “seeks to legitimise its unilateral decisions that do not conform with international law by hiding behind baseless allegations that these policies stem from the right of peoples to development”. Tension has been high between Cairo and Addis Ababa after Ethiopia said it had completed the fifth water filling unilaterally, going against the Declaration of Principles signed with Egypt and Sudan. In September, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty addressed a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council rejecting the recent statements by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed regarding the fifth phase of the GERD filling.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 3 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly