By POMED –
On September 22, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The meeting came shortly after the Biden administration chose to use a questionable legal maneuver to avoid withholding $300 million in military aid to Egypt that Congress conditioned on human rights improvements.
Secretary Blinken noted in the meeting that a stronger bilateral relationship “would be facilitated by steps from the Government of Egypt to improve its protection of human rights, including by implementing measures in the National Strategy on Human Rights launched by the Egyptian government last week.”
The pair also discussed regional issues including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dispute, developments in Libya, the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, and Israeli-Palestinian relations.
They further “agreed to hold a bilateral strategic dialogue to discuss regional issues, human rights, security cooperation, and economic relations.”
Nor is the Blinken-Shoukry meeting the only high-level gathering on the books: White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is reportedly planning to visit Egypt next week in a trip that will also include stops in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
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Photo Credit: Egypt Daily News
