EU, Arabs tackle troubled Middle East at first summit

SHARM EL SHEIKH (Egypt), Feb 24 (AFP): European and Arab leaders gather on Sunday for their first summit aimed at stepping up cooperation on trade, security and migration while the EU-Brexit stalemate looms on the sidelines.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hosted last-minute preparatory meetings with the European Union before he opens the two-day summit at 5:00 pm in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Europeans view the summit, EU sources told the news agency, as a way to protect their traditional diplomatic, economic and security interests while China and Russia move to fill a vacuum left by the United States.

The summit in the southern Sinai desert is heavily guarded by Egyptian security forces who are fighting a bloody jihadist insurgency a short distance to the north.

Climate change, migration, trade and investment are on Sunday's agenda, EU sources said. Conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya are to be discussed on Monday.

Arab League hosts said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will also be raised.

European leaders first mentioned the summit in Austria in September amid efforts to agree ways to curb the illegal migration that has sharply divided the 28-nation bloc.

But checking migration is just part of Europe's broader strategy to forge a new alliance with its southern neighbours.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini insists that the gathering in Egypt of around 40 heads of state and government is about much more than migration.