Council conclusions on Egypt The European Union has a long and close relationship with the Egyptian people and stands by them in their ongoing search for democracy, respect for human rights, dignity, social justice and security. The EU recalls the events of 25 January 2011, and the aspirations of millions of Egyptians and sacrifices of many for these ideals. It is therefore with great concern that the EU is following current events in Egypt, in particular since last Wednesday. The EU condemns in the clearest possible terms all acts of violence. The EU believes the recent operations of the Egyptian security forces have been disproportionate and have resulted in an unacceptable large number of deaths and injuries. In this context, it notes the announcement on 18 August 2013 to launch an independent investigation into all the killings, and calls on the government to exercise restraint. The EU strongly condemns acts of terrorism such as the murder of policemen in the Sinai, destruction of many churches and the targeting of the Coptic community, attacks on government installations and museums. In this regard, the EU recalls that it defends freedom of religion or belief in any circumstances, and condemns any attack against any place of worship, and against any person because of their religion or beliefs. Member States also agreed to suspend export licenses to Egypt of any equipment which might be used for internal repression and to reassess export licences of equipment covered by Common Position 2008/944/CFSP and review their security assistance with Egypt. consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/138599.pdf
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 22:50:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015