Dr. Sherif Fahkry Mohamed Abd-el-Naby, President of the Egyptian Russian University (ERU), announced that a symposium entitled “Egyptian Principles in Confronting National Security Challenges” was organized to discuss external and internal threats such as terrorism, spread of misinformation, foreign interventions, economic crises, regional conflicts, and current wars, which affect countries. This comes within the framework of the role performed by the university in the field of raising community awareness on important current events under circumstances which require the people’s support around the political leadership to protect the state and its supreme interests. Dr. Sherif added that the symposium was held under the patronage of Dr. Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees.

In the same context, Dr. Shehata Gharib, Professor of Law and Advisor for Institutional Development at the ERU, highlighted that the challenges facing Egyptian national security, both internal and external, were discussed and analyzed, along with the procedures for addressing these challenges in order to ensure the stability of security at both national and regional levels. Dr. Shehata pinpointed that Egyptian national security has been exposed to many challenges, including the challenges of internal terrorism, which had exhausted the Egyptian state and economy for decades until terrorism began to decline significantly and stopped to exist thanks to the efforts of the loyal sons of the nation.

Dr. Shahata stated that the comprehensive operation launched in Sinai to eliminate terrorist hotbeds has been one of the foundations for achieving sustainable development. The elimination of terrorism has been the fruit of great sacrifices of Egyptian men: members of the armed forces, policemen, ordinary citizens, and especially martyrs. He highlighted that the Russian-Ukrainian war and the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted many states around the world as well as the national security in all countries. This has urged the Egyptian state to accelerate achieving self-sufficiency with regard to its strategic crops and to expand land reclamation in New Delta, Toshka, Sinai, as well as other areas in Egypt.

On his part, the veteran artist / Tarek El-Desouqy stated that Egypt is the only state in the world that is exposed to major threats from all directions (North, South, East and West). In addition, it is attacked 24 hours a day all through the year by some biased foreign satellite channels and social media pages, who continuously spread rumors among segments of the Egyptian society to cast doubt about the state’s leadership and its bodies. El-Desouqy called on the attendees to always verify everything published on social media and broadcast on biased channels which aim to destabilize Egypt’s internal and external national security.

Al-Desouqy asserted that the Egyptian state has the largest armed forces in the Middle East region, which is ranked the 12th in the world; its naval forces are the 6th in the world; and its air forces are the 15th. Besides, the Egyptian soldier with his matchless courage and steadfastness, ranks first in the world as he believes in no other options other than victory or martyrdom. This reassures all of us that all our borders can never be penetrated by any enemy. He made it clear that the internal front must be strong and cohesive behind our “armed forces,” as we all see that the fragmentation and collapse of the states surrounding us were unfortunately done by the hands of their own people, who had internal fight among each other at the expense of their home countries.

In the same vein, Dr. Hanaa Abd-el-Rahman, Advisor to the President of the ERU for Student Activities, stated that the awareness-raising seminar focused on the concept of national security, underlining that it is not merely a strategic issue for countries, but rather represents a guarantee for the safety and well-being of individuals, in addition to accomplishing comprehensive and integrated strategies to achieve comprehensive security for the community. Dr. Hanaa also explained that Egypt places the preservation of its national security as a top priority, while maintaining balanced and strong relations with all states. She emphasized the importance of such activities at the university, due to their vital role in spreading national awareness, qualifying youth to face security challenges, and preparing a generation that is capable of confronting rumors and misleading information, and contributing to building a strong and cohesive society.

The symposium was attended by: Dr. Mohamed Ehab Fattouh, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Dr. Khaled Tawfik, Dean of the Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Dr. Ezz-el-Deen Abd-el-Aziz, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Dr. Makarem El-Ghamry, Dean of the Faculty of Al-Alsun ​​and Technical Languages, Dr. Gamil Abdullah, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Dr. Hassan Said, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence, Dr. Hossam Nazmy, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Dr. Mohamed Badary, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, a number of faculty members, assistant staff members, university employees, students from all faculties, and Accountant / Tarek Belal, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Educational Administration for Badr and Shorouk Cities.

At the end of the symposium, Dr. Sherif Fahkry, President of the University, thanked the lecturers and honored the distinguished artist / Tarek El-Desouqy.