TSAMTO, June 9. According to Italian media, after three years of negotiations, Egypt is close to signing an agreement with Italy worth $ 3 billion, providing for the acquisition of 24 Typhoon fighters from the Eurofighter consortium.
According to the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, citing a government source, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is awaiting confirmation of the approval of the deal from Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
The sale of fighter jets is part of a broader agreement for the supply of weapons with a total value of $10 to $12 billion, including warships, combat and training aircraft, as well as a military satellite.
As stated, if the deal is signed, it will be the largest purchase of weapons in the recent history of Egypt and one of the largest deals in Italy since the Second World War.
It is expected that in addition to Typhoon fighters, the Egyptian Armed Forces will acquire from the Italian company Fincantieri four multi-purpose frigates of the FREMM class, 20 patrol ships, 20 M-346 combat training aircraft and a reconnaissance satellite.
The source of the publication added that the Italian Leonardo group will receive about 60% of the cost of the aircraft developed by a consortium of companies from the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.
The negotiations on the sale of the arms package took place against the backdrop of tensions between Egypt and Italy over accusations of human rights violations by the Egyptian leadership, especially because of the investigation into the death of Italian student Giulio Regeni, who was tortured and killed in Egypt in 2016. The Egyptian Interior Ministry said he was killed by criminals, but there were allegations that Egyptian security forces were involved in the death of the graduate student, who suspected him of espionage.
Egypt closed its own investigation of the case in December 2020, which caused a wave of outrage in Italy after statements about plans to sell weapons to Cairo. Nevertheless, this did not prevent Italy from selling two FREMM-class frigates built for the Italian Navy to Egypt in 2020.
The Italian government at the time justified its decision to allow the sale as "a commercial operation having nothing to do with finding the truth about Giulio Regeni's death." Regeni's family sued the Italian government over the sale of the first two FREMM frigates.
Egypt is one of the ten largest importers of weapons in the world: in the period from 2010 to 2020. Cairo acquired VIVT in the amount of $22 billion. Since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in Egypt in 2013, the countries of the European Union and the United Kingdom have significantly increased arms sales to Egypt, despite allegations of human rights violations in that country.
In December 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he would not make the issue of arms sales to Egypt dependent on respect for human rights, because "he does not want to weaken Cairo's ability to fight militants in the region."
According to the public organization "Campaign Against Arms Trade" (Campaign Against Arms Trade – CAAT), in the period from 2013 to 2020, European countries exported or issued licenses for the supply of VIVT to Egypt in the amount of at least $ 12.4 billion. Only the total volume of German VIVT sales to Egypt in 2021 amounted to $ 4.8 billion.