With plans for a new consulate in Sharm el-Sheikh, Russia widens diplomatic reach in Egypt

Russia has decided to open a new consulate in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The decision by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on 27 May marks the latest in a series of mutual measures aimed at broadening cooperation and enhancing Russia's presence in Egypt, and the region.

The expected consulate will support Russian diplomatic presence in the northern coastal Egyptian city of Alexandria and the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, a central point of attraction for Russian tourists.

It will also enhance the presence of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in downtown Cairo, a headquarters with Stalinist architecture that overlooks the Nile River and stands a few kilometres away from the iconic Tahrir Square at the centre of the Egyptian capital.

The new consulate reflects Russia's desire to expand its diplomatic presence in Egypt, which Moscow views as a crucial base for Russian influence in the region, analysts in Cairo said.

"Relations between Egypt and Russia are excellent at present," ambassador Moataz Ahmadin, Egypt's former envoy at the United Nations, remarked to The New Arab.

"The Russians are surely keen on increasing their regional influence at the expense of US presence, which is becoming smaller already," he added.

Return of Russian tourists

The new consulate comes as Russian tourist inflows to Egypt return to normal, with Russian travellers returning in droves to their preferred sunny Mediterranean and Red Sea spots, including in Egypt.

Around 1.19 million Russian tourists visited Egypt in 2024, representing a 16.3 percent increase from the number of Russians visiting in 2023.

Russian tourist inflows into Egypt were negatively impacted by the eruption of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, inflicting a significant blow to Egypt's vital tourism sector. Before the war-induced drop in Russian and Ukrainian tourists, they had constituted almost a third of all foreign tourists visiting Egypt.

"The Russians used to make up the majority of the tourists visiting our country over the years," independent tourism expert Magdi Selim told TNA.

"The war affected tourist inflows negatively, even as new markets emerged since the war erupted," he added.

Pushing forward the return of Russian tourist are aggressive Egyptian tourist promotion policies, ones rooted in the Arab country's aspiration to reach an annual tourist arrival level that befits its tourism qualifications and capabilities.

Despite the diverse nature of its tourism sector, Egypt has not fully tapped into its potential, specialists say.

With an average of 14 million tourists arriving in the country in peak years, Egypt believes it deserves a larger share of the international tourist movement, as the country boasts some of the world's most beautiful beaches on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, as well as millennia-old archaeological sites.

Egypt aims to increase the number of tourists visiting it to 30 million by 2030, driven by its goal to raise annual tourism revenues to $30 billion, up from $14.1 billion in 2024.

In 2024, the tourism sector employed 2.7 million people, accounting for approximately 8.5 percent of the national workforce of 32 million. In the same year, tourism contributed 8.1 percent of the GDP of the populous Arab country.

Expanding Russian influence

The new consulate also indicates Russia's desire to scale up its presence in Egypt as a jump-off point for a broader regional presence.

Strategically located at the crossroads of three continents and home to the Suez Canal, the shortest cut between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, Egypt features highly in Russia's foreign policy priorities, Russian observers said.

"Egypt is a country with a great strategic importance for Russia, being the largest Arab state in terms of population and possessing a significant geographic location," Russian journalist Olga Afanasieva told TNA.

"Egypt is also influential on the regional economic and political stage, which qualifies it to be a principal regional partner in the coming years, especially in the fields of energy and industrialization," she added.

Over the past decade, Moscow deepened its cooperation with Cairo to unprecedented levels.

Apart from growing defence cooperation between the two sides, Russia infused significant investments into the Egyptian economy, a move most recently manifested in plans for the establishment of a Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal region.

Russia is also constructing Egypt's first nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean in western Egypt. This project that will help the Arab country diversify its power generation sources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Russian products, including cooking oils and foodstuffs, are becoming increasingly prevalent on the shelves in the nation's supermarkets, as trade between the two countries rose to $9 billion in 2024, a 30 percent increase from 2023 figures.

The cooperation between Egypt and Russia is gaining greater urgency, especially after the late 2024 downfall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, which was a main regional anchor for Russia over the previous decades.

Moreover, increasing major power rivalry in the region—with Russia, China and the US coming at the centre of this rivalry—is another primary motivator behind this development.

Diversifying alliances

A Russian business delegation is reportedly expected to arrive in Cairo to explore investment opportunities, signalling Moscow's desire to elevate its current cooperation with Cairo to new heights.

Egypt also strongly craves diversification of international alliances in Egypt's pursuit of more independence, especially from the US.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was one of a few Arab leaders invited to the Victory Day parade on Moscow's Red Square in early May. An Egyptian army unit also participated in the parade, providing an additional proof of resolve in the two countries to move forward with cementing their multifaceted partnership.

Egypt also takes similar moves towards China, which has recently emerged as a cost-effective alternative to Western armament sources.

These growing partnerships coincide with tensions in Egyptian-US relations against the background of Israel's war on Gaza.

US President Donald Trump's desire for Egypt to take in Gaza refugees and compensate the US for striking the Houthi militia in Yemen has strained these relations even more.

"Egypt strives to increase its foreign policy independence by variegating its international partnerships and alliances," ambassador Hamdin said.

"The fact is that the policies pursued by Trump force other countries to trim their relations with the US, whose regional and international influence is receding already," he added.