Jeddah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed that the time has come for concerted efforts to end all chronic conflicts and long-running civil wars and that moving toward the future depends on how to deal with past crises, noting that joint efforts to solve the region’s crises will not succeed without reaching a just and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue.

In a speech he delivered at Jeddah Security and Development Summit hosted by the Kingdom in Jeddah, he explained that the region suffers from grave political, development, and security challenges, including the dangers of the spread of terrorism in a way that affects the stability of our peoples and also, threatens the rights of future generations.

President El-Sisi expressed his appreciation to the countries participating in the summit, which bears a clear political significance by renewing the determination to develop a partnership between the Arab countries and the US, be it at the bilateral level or in the broader regional framework, in a way that enables them to move towards broader horizons of cooperation to meet the aspirations of and the interests of nations to achieve mutual benefits and maintain the security and stability of the entire region.

President Sisi said, “The worsening global and regional crises have continued and intensified, such as the Corona pandemic, climate change, food security, and the spread of international and regional armed conflicts, which have cast a shadow over the entire humanity, including our Arab region, which suffers from serious political, development and security challenges, including risks of the spread of terrorism in a way that affects the stability of our peoples and threatens the rights of future generations as well”.

President El-Sisi presented a comprehensive approach that includes a-five axes action plan to move on priority issues during the next stage to serve the desired goals towards a more stable and prosperous region, represented in:

First – Moving toward the future depends on how to deal with the extending crises of the past. The joint efforts to solve the region’s crises, whether those that were resolved during the past decade or those that are still ongoing, can only be successful by reaching a just, comprehensive, and final settlement of the first Arab issue, which is the Palestinian cause, based on a two-state solution based on the relevant references of international legitimacy in a way that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, to ensure the Palestinian rights and lives in peace side by side with Israel and brings a new status that provides peace for the people living in the region and can be accepted and tolerated and reinforces the values of coexistence and peace and the prospects it opens and embodies. Hence, it is necessary to intensify joint efforts, not only to revive the peace process but to bring it this time to a final and irreversible solution, to be the impetus on which peace efforts in the region are based.

Second: Building societies from within on the foundations of democracy, citizenship, equality, respect for human rights, rejecting sectarian and extremist ideologies, and upholding the concept of national interest is the guarantor of sustainable stability in its comprehensive concept, preserving peoples’ capabilities, and preventing them from being hijacked or misused. This requires strengthening the role of the national state with an unifying identity, supporting the pillars of its constitutional institutions, developing its own capabilities, and cadres, to carry out its tasks in laying the foundations for good governance, achieving security, enforcing the law, confronting contra- forces, providing a supportive environment for fundamental rights and freedoms, and enabling women and youth, and strengthening the role of civil society as a partner in the development process, as well as the role of religious institutions and leaders to spread a culture of moderation and tolerance in a way that guarantees the right to freedom of religion and belief, as well as to devote the process of political, economic and social reform, advance investment and provide job opportunities, leading to sustainable development to meet the aspirations of the peoples towards a better future, they participate in its construction and enjoy the fruits of its achievements without discrimination.

Third: This axis is related to Arab national security, which is an integral part, and what the Arab countries have in their capabilities in cooperation with their partners is enough to provide the appropriate framework to address any dangers threatening our Arab world, and that the principles of respect for the sovereignty of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, fraternity and equality is what governs inter-Arab relations, and it is the same that is stipulated in the spirit and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, and it must also be the same that governs the relations of Arab countries with their regional neighbors and at the international level. In the context of addressing the concept of integrated regional security, we cannot fail to reiterate the need to take practical steps that lead to tangible results toward the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, while strengthening the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in this regard, and preserving the non-proliferation system, which represents a cornerstone for an integrated system of regional security.

Fourth: Terrorism remains a major challenge that Arab countries have suffered from over several decades. Therefore, we renew our commitment to combating terrorism and extremist ideology in all its forms and images, to eliminate all its organizations and armed militias deployed in many parts of our Arab world, which are sponsored by some external forces to serve their destructive agenda and raises arms to achieve political and material gains, impedes the implementation of national settlements and reconciliations, and prevents the implementation of the will of peoples in some countries. Rather, its capabilities have developed to carry out cross-border operations. There is no place for the concept of militias, mercenaries, and arms gangs in the region, and those who support them and provide them with shelter, money, weapons, and training, and allowed the transfer of terrorist elements from one location to another must reconsider their accounts and erroneous calculations, and realize unequivocally that there is no complacency in protecting our national security and the associated red lines, and that we will protect our security, interests, and rights by all means.

Fifth: This axis is related to the need to strengthen international cooperation and solidarity to raise the capabilities of the regional countries in addressing major and emerging global crises, such as food shortages, turmoil in energy markets, water security, and climate change to contain the consequences of these crises and recover from their repercussions, and increase investments in infrastructure development in various fields, which contributes to the localization of various industries, the transfer of technology and knowledge, and the abundance of goods. Egypt supports every effort that would develop cooperation and diversify partnerships to confront the current food and energy crises. Dealing with the food crisis requires taking into account its multiple dimensions in the short and long term to develop effective mechanisms for rapid response to the needs of the affected countries through urgent support packages, as well as developing mechanisms for sustainable agricultural production, grain storage, and waste reduction, in cooperation with partners and international financing institutions, the same applies to dealing with the energy crisis, which requires effective cooperation on our part to ensure the stability of global energy markets. The successes achieved by the East Mediterranean Gas Forum in the past years represent a practical translation of our political will to cooperate with our partners and an embodiment of one of the most important contributions to managing wealth and optimizing the use of current and future resources to preserve energy sources.

Concerning water security, the Egyptian President stressed the importance of renewing commitment to the rules of international law relating to international rivers to allow all peoples to benefit from these natural resources fairly, and the need to preserve the water security requirements of the regional countries and to prevent the countries of the headwaters of the rivers, which represent the lifelines of all peoples, from violating the rights of downstream countries.

Touching on the climate change file, President El-Sisi made it clear that “we should continue to work collectively in the multilateral international frameworks related to this important issue, namely the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement to ensure the achievement of the goals that we have agreed upon in accordance with the rules and principles we have accepted,” stressing that the Arab and African regions are two of the regions most affected by the negative effects of climate change, and the resulting repercussions on food security, energy and water security, community peace and political stability. Hence, he said, everyone must agree on a comprehensive vision to support Arab and African countries, enable them to fulfill their relevant international obligations, and raise their ability to adapt to the negative effects of climate change, so that this vision contributes to addressing the financial liquidity crisis and intensifying climate financing directed to these countries, as well as supporting and promoting investments in renewable energy.

Regarding the convening of the COP 27 World Climate Summit in November 2022, President El-Sisi said “We look forward to welcoming you in Sharm El-Sheikh at the World Climate Summit to reiterate our firm commitment to efforts to confront climate change, and to turn this challenge into a real opportunity for development and the transition to more green economic patterns that are more sustainable for the benefit of all the peoples of the earth”.

President El-Sisi indicated that he was keen to share with the attendees the five axes on which Egypt’s vision is based on facing the current challenges to put our region on the path of comprehensive and sustainable stability, and for us to start together a new chapter of the strategic partnership between our countries and peoples, which is based on the foundations of mutual trust and support and upholding common interests, sharing burdens and responsibilities, and solidarity, taking into account the circumstances and privacy of each society, its experiences, customs, and traditions, and the challenges it faces, in line with the concept of integration of civilizations in our contemporary time.

At the end of his speech, President El-Sisi thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the kind reception and generous hospitality.

Source: Saudi Press Agency