EU considers suspension of €5bn in aid to Egypt
2013-08-19 10:14:59
The EU is to “urgently review” relations with Egypt and will consider suspending aid to the country, as international concern mounts about an escalation in violence following last week’s crackdown on Islamist protesters.
EU officials said the review was likely to recommend a suspension of various forms of aid and loans in total worth €5bn, which had been earmarked to help Egypt in its transition towards democracy following the popular revolution that ended the military regime of Hosni Mubarak two years ago. Suspension would require the backing of EU member states.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the EU would “completely reappraise the situation regarding Egypt”, describing the situation in Egypt in an interview with ZDF television as “extraordinarily volatile and concerning”.
General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s army chief, said the army would not tolerate violence or any attempt to “terrorise’’ Egyptians but urged supporters of Mr Morsi to join the political process.
“There is room for everyone, we are keen on protecting all Egyptians,’’ Gen Sisi said in a speech to military and police officers on Sunday. “But they have to understand that the Egyptian people are the source of legitimacy; they can grant or strip it from whomever they want.”
On Sunday 36 Muslim Brotherhood detainees died in disputed circumstances. The state news agency reported that they were killed in an exchange of fire after they tried to escape from a truck convoy heading to Abu Zabaal prison in northern Cairo. Gunmen had attacked the trucks, which were carrying 600 detainees arrested during street violence between the security forces and loyalists of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi.
The interior ministry, however, said the detainees had taken a police officer hostage and had tried to escape. They were suffocated by tear gas used in the operation to free the officer.
Egypt’s army-backed cabinet met to discuss the crisis as the Muslim Brotherhood called for more street protests and its opponents, led by the prime minister, Hazem el-Beblawi, argued for an outright ban on the movement.
However, the cabinet is also considering an attempt at conciliation presented by Ziad Bahaa-Eldin, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, which advocated an inclusive political process for all parties who renounce violence and an end to the state of emergency “as soon as possible”.
Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, said the EU would “urgently review in the coming days its relations with Egypt and adopt measures aimed at pursuing” the end of violence and the resumption of dialogue.
The EU together with its 28 member states promised Egypt in November a total of €5bn in grants and loans for a series of initiatives and projects on condition that democratic reform was implemented. There was no timescale for disbursement of the funds.
EU officials said it was too early to identify exactly which parts of the EU-Egypt relationship would be affected by the review but they added that the blocking of funds was “very much on the table”.
“The current situation is not making it possible for Egyptian authorities to fulfil many of those conditions so they cannot get the money that was put at their potential disposal [in November],” said an EU official.
Ambassadors of the EU’s 28-member countries will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss the situation in Egypt. A meeting of EU foreign ministers is expected to be called as early as Thursday.