On May 23 and 24, 2023, during the bilateral visit of a high-level delegation from the SSCAF (Strategic Studies Centre of Armed Forces), Nasser Higher Military Academy, from Cairo, Egypt, MEPEI, with the support of the Office of the Egyptian Defense Attaché to Romania, organized a debate at the Ghika Palace in Bucharest.

Focused on several topics, ranging from the NATO/ EU problematics to the Middle Eastern issues, the debate was meant to engage the discussion between the Egyptian delegation and the Romanian experts invited to attend the event. Thus, the two sides detailed their own stance regarding the matters established in the agenda.

The Romanian experts present either in the speakers’ arena or in the audience were part of the Romanian academia, civil society, or military analysts.

The speakers present were the following:

From Romania:

• Flavius CABA-MARIA, President, MEPEI;
• Liviu MUREȘAN, President, EuroDefense Romania;
• Ecaterina MAȚOI, Program Director, MEPEI;
• Adrian SEVERIN, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Former President of the Organization for Security and Co-operation;
• Teodor MELEȘCANU, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Former Minister of Defense; Former Director of Foreign Intelligence Service;
• Ambassador Viorel ISTICIOAIA-BUDURA, Career Diplomat, Former Ambassador of Romania to People’s Republic of China, Mongolia, Republic of Korea. As a European official, was Head of the Asia-Pacific Department with European External Action Service and Ambassador of the EU to Japan;
• Major Gen. (r) Adrian PÂRLOG, Former Deputy of Military Intelligence Service;
• Gen. (r) Cătălin TOMESCU, Former Commander of the Multinational Corps South East (MNC-SE), NATO’s Regional Command;
• Colonel (r) Ion PETRESCU, Former Chief of Media Department of Ministry of Defense, Military Analyst;
• Cristian BARNA, Intelligence and Security Analyst;
• Alexandru GEORGESCU, Secretary General, EuroDefense Romania;
• Mihai SEBE, Expert on European Affairs, Director of Department, Romanian European Institute;
• Dragoș MATEESCU, Director on Expertise Department, Romanian Diplomatic Institute.

From SSCAF:

• Staff Major General Tarek Mohamed Helal Hassan, Director SSCAF;
• Staff Major General (r) Magdy Fouad Mohamed Sadek;
• Staff Major General (r) Mohamed Aboubakr Mohamed Abdelkader Elshafei;
• Brigadier (r) Dr. Khaled Fahmy Mohamed Abdeltwab.

From the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Romania:

• E. Mr. Moayad Fathallah Mohamed ELDALIE, Ambassador;
• Colonel Staff Pilot Mahmoud WAHBY, Military Attaché.

The two-day talks were divided according to the subsequent agenda:

• Panel 1: The Future of the International Order from the Perspective of the Russian-Ukrainian Crisis and the Consequences on the Middle East;
• Panel 2: Integration in MENA – New Ways of Cooperation between MENA Countries;
• Panel 3: NATO and the EU in the Mediterranean Region, and Egypt’s Interests;
• Panel 4: The Politics of the Great Powers towards the Middle East;
• Panel 5: The Role of China in the Middle East and the Development of Chinese-Egyptian Relations;
• Panel 6: MENA: Regional Integration as a Means to Build and Strengthen Political and Economic Cooperation.

The conclusions’ session was followed by the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two partners (MEPEI & SSCAF) present during the talks. The MoU is meant to advance the cooperation and to enable the development of events and further exchanges between the two institutes.