LibyaEgyptian Libya Relations:
The Egyptian-Libyan relations extend throughout history for thousands of years, during which kinship and affinity between the two peoples reflected unique cultural and social mixture.
The geographical factors which bind the two borders over more than a thousand kilometers, in addition to the history of the two countries, have made the relations of the two peoples enjoy social and popular privacy.
Egypt has adopted a balanced and understanding political position for the reality of the situation in Libya after the February Revolution of 2011.
Egypt's position of refusing to participate in the careless international military intervention under the pretext of protecting civilians was based on the firm conviction that military intervention in principle will make things more complex in Libya, and the Libyan people is capable of imposing its own free will, despite the brutality and suppression of Colonel Gaddafi's regime.
Egypt considers the unfinished international intervention in Libya is responsible for the situation there, security and economic collapse and the proliferation of arms in the hands of armed terrorist groups which expropriated lands and resources of brotherly people. Egypt believes that the international community has a responsibility to repair what it had spoiled, by adopting a well-defined vision for the implementation of an integrated program for the Libyan institution-building and reconstruction, and is based on a sustainable partnership between the Libyan legislative institution and its consensus government on one hand, and the international community and Libyan direct neighboring countries on the other hand, with which an international effort has to coincide to effectively support the Libyan National army in clearing land from the Libyan armed terrorism.
In this context, Egypt participated actively in all international and regional forums on Libyan affairs, stressing always the need to adhere to a package of principles controlling any mediation concerned with affairs Libyan was internationally or regionally, namely to respect for the unity, independence and territorial integrity of Libya, to reject any interference in the internal affairs of the Libyans, and to adopt constructive national dialogue as the only way for political reconciliation to restore state authority and institution-building.
On the basis of those principles Egypt supported the early mediation backed by the United Nations and carried out by Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya, Ghasan Salama.
Egypt has made significant efforts in its regional surroundings in full coordination with the Libyan House of Representatives and the government to achieve these principles and reaffirm the commitment to them. In this context, Egypt hosted the Ministerial Meeting for the Neighbouring Countries of Libya in Cairo on August 25th, 2014 which adopted the Egyptian initiative to unify the visions about the need to gather the necessary support for the Libyan legal institutions, especially the House of Representatives, which represent an exclusive expression of the will of the Libyan people to complete the process of democratic transition and reconciliation among all its citizens.
Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Tunisia, and Algeria have sent a clear message rejecting all forms of terrorism and the need to dry up its financing resources, specially the foreign ones, fighting against organized cross-border crime and addressing all illegal activities.
In light of Egypt's efforts to build consensus among the Libyan parties, Egypt hosts the meetings of the Egyptian National Committee on Libya to build national reconciliation between the different Libyan parties, as well as supporting the unification of the military institution and other state's institutions.
Further, Egypt takes part in both meetings of the Tripartite Coordination Mechanism on Libya, which is established between Egypt, Tunisia and Alegria, and the meetings of the African Union High-Level Committee on Libya.
In this context, Egypt is leading an international endeavour to put the issue of the reconstruction of Libya on the top of the international interest and work on effectively involving the international community and contributing positively to building the future of Libya.
Within the framework of Egypt's support for the Libyan revolution, during the visit of the President of the Libyan Prime Minister to Egypt and his accompanying delegation, which involved ministers of labor, economy, education, justice, scientific research, higher education, agriculture, livestock, finance and the Chief of Staff, the two countries agreed on August 6th, 2012, to tighten control over common border crossings, to prevent the smuggling of goods and commodities that negatively affect the local industries of the two countries in addition to its negative impact on Egypt's revenues from customs and taxesThe Egyptian government affirmed to provide all aspects of support for Libya, and its readiness to help the Libyan institution-building processes through the provision of technical support and training for Libyan cadres. For its part, the Libyan government confirmed its interest in increasing and multiplying the Libyan investments in the Egyptian market, promoting economic cooperation, supporting trade relations and restoring its volume the period before the revolution, in addition to providing all the facilities for the Egyptian companies to participate in the reconstruction efforts in Libya.
The Egyptian and Libyan sides have confirmed then, at the conclusion of the talks between the prime ministers of the two countries, the importance of increasing Libyan investments in Egypt, working on the resumption of the New Cairo project and El-Salhiya project to reclaim 33 thousand acres, and revitalizing the idea of establishing a joint free economic zone in the border region of the energy-intensive industries.At the cultural level, Egypt and Libya signed a cultural protocol in 28/1/2013, stipulates to form a committee comprising senior intellectuals and artists in Egypt and Libya and to participate in regional and international book fairs and to cooperate in the field of intellectual property rights and artistic works, plastic arts and expressionism, movie and theater, and the exchange of traditional orchestras and folk arts in festivals and making cultural weeks between the two countries.
