Egypt’s President Sisi opens strategic Mediterranean naval base
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated a naval base on Saturday 135 km from the border with Libya, flanked by close ally Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Libya’s unity president.
Egypt says the July 3 base will help it protect strategic and economic interests as well as helping guard against irregular migration as it works to boost its naval presence on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
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At the inauguration, two Mistral helicopter carriers acquired from France were on display alongside a German-made submarine and two recently delivered FREMM-class Italian frigates.
Egypt’s President Sisi (C), accompanied by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (R), standing in a control tower during the inauguration of the naval base in Gargoub on July 3, 2021, in Egypt's northwestern Mediterranean coastal city of Masra Matruh. (Egyptian Presidency/AFP)
Naval forces performed exercises that included the firing of rockets, parachute jumps and an amphibious landing as Sisi and his guests looked on from the bridge of one of the Mistrals.
The July 3 base, whose name marks the day in 2013 when Sisi led the overthrow of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, is spread over more than 10 sq km and has a 1,000-metre naval quay with a water depth of 14 metres. It also has quays for commercial shipping.
The eastern border has been a key security concern for Egypt as Libya slid into turmoil after 2011, though it has beefed up its presence in the area.
The inauguration of the "3rd of July Naval Base" in Egypt is an achievement that reflects progress in vital sectors in the country, under the leadership of my brother Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. I was pleased to witness this milestone & I'm confident in Egypt’s continued development. pic.twitter.com/xkwz6BVEyW
— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) July 3, 2021
Mohamed al-Menfi, who attended the opening on Saturday, is part of that process as head of Libya’s three-man presidential council.
Egypt has also experienced tensions with Turkey — which backed Haftar’s western rivals in Libya — over maritime rights in the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. However, Cairo and Ankara have taken cautious steps this year to mend relations.
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