Op-ed: Russia, Egypt... Alliance or Partnership?

Russia’s Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko said in June 2021, that Cairo is a key partner for Moscow in various fields, and there is always convergence in international views as well as joint cooperation in all political, economic, cultural, and commercial fields.

In the meantime, the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense announced, Monday, the signing of a military cooperation agreement with Russia, which includes enhancing the Ethiopian army's skill and technological capabilities.

Let’s differentiate between the strategic partner and the strategic ally. Russia is a strategic partner to Egypt. In politics, the ally has the right to make his own decision while the partner forces him to engage in common issues because partnership principles impose many obligations on all parties. 

According to a business’s forum, “A partnership company is formed when the parties involved agree to share the business’s profits or losses proportionately. This business is a separate entity, jointly owned and operated by the people in the partnership. An alliance is formed when businesses agree to collaborate without giving up their independent status.”

Thus, we can say that Russia is not obliged to follow the footsteps of Egypt (the strategic partnership), but this never mean that Moscow is Cairo’s enemy. Strong relations between the two countries are very important for both and essential for regional stability. 

Columnist Mohamed Amin wrote in Al-Masry Al-Youm on July 26, 2020, “The strategic ally is like the strategic partner for Egypt… There is no partnership, no support, no treaty, no alliance… China, our strategic partner, has built the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD)… Russia, the strategic partner, allies with Turkey in Libya.”

Many Egyptians on social media platforms expressed their concerns over the Russian-Ethiopian newly-announced military agreement. However, these concerns are baseless and this agreement does not affect the Egyptian-Russian relationship.

Russia acknowledges well how its bonds with Egypt are significant to maintain Moscow's aspirations in the region. Egypt, also, is not willing to give up on its strategic projects to be established with Russia.

In political science, there is neither a forever ally nor a forever enemy. Now, Egypt has many issues with Ethiopia but does not mean that both countries are enemies, but Cairo is always stronger, more significant and more influential than Addis Ababa regionally and globally. The ball is at Russia's court.