Replay - Conference with Badr Abdelatty, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt
Invited to Ifri on October 2, 2025, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdelatty, highlighted Egypt’s doctrine of “strategic balance,” which is based on non-alignment and non-interference, while maintaining strong relations with major global powers such as the United States, Russia, and China.
During this talk at Ifri, moderated by Marc Hecker, Ifri’s Executive Director, Badr Abdelatty addressed the main crises in which Egypt is at the forefront.
1. Gaza Crisis and Egypt’s Position
Humanitarian Emergency: The situation is described as an “ongoing genocide” (in the minister’s words) marked by a man-made famine. More than 7,000 aid trucks are waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.
Peace Plan: Egypt supports the peace plan put forward by Donald Trump, as it seeks to end the war without annexation or population displacement.
Red Line: The displacement of populations from Gaza or the West Bank is a “red line” for Egypt, which considers it tantamount to the liquidation of the Palestinian cause. Egypt has proposed training up to 5,000 Palestinian police officers to ensure law enforcement in Gaza during the transitional period.
2. The Existential Threat of Water
The only “existential” threat to Egypt is the issue of water, linked to the Ethiopian dam (GERD). Ethiopia has unilaterally tripled its storage capacity to 74 billion cubic meters. After 13 years of negotiations, Egypt declared that the process was in a “complete deadlock” and reaffirmed its right to defend its water rights “by all means,” in accordance with international law.
3. Economic Impact and Regional Role
Suez Canal: Egypt is the country most affected by the escalation in the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks. The decline in traffic has led to losses of more than $9 billion to date, with a 60% drop in the number of ships transiting the canal.
Refugees: Egypt faces a major humanitarian crisis by hosting 10 million refugees, including 5.5 million Sudanese.
De-escalation: Acting as a “bridge-builder,” Egypt is stepping up contacts with Iran (despite the absence of full diplomatic relations), with the sole aim of achieving regional de-escalation and avoiding a general war.
BRICS+: The country joined the BRICS+ format in January 2024, stressing that it is a purely economic bloc, unrelated to geopolitical polarization.
Watch the conference to better understand Egypt’s strategies in this period of uncertainty and global polarization.
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