Strasbourg, 16/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative Catherine Ashton who is currently visiting the Maghreb and Middle East will, on the evening of 21 February, travel to Egypt where she is likely to be the first high-profile foreign leader to visit the country since the departure of Hosni Mubarak, Commissioner Stefan Füle told the European Parliament meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday. On Tuesday 22 February, Ashton will have meetings in Cairo with the military authorities, the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces, which have taken over control of the country since the departure of the former president, overthrown after three weeks of popular uprising. She will previously have met European foreign ministers at an extraordinary Council on Sunday 20 February. Mandated by the European Council to conduct discussions with the leaders of the regime and the opposition on how the EU could help peaceful transition in Egypt, the high representative announced her intention to travel to the country as long ago as 9 February, but the authorities in Cairo indicated that they did not want to receive foreign envoys.
Füle, standing in for Ashton, gave assurances of the EU's support for the process of political transformation in Egypt and said he had noted the commitments made by the Egyptian transitional authorities to revise the constitution, hold parliamentary and presidential elections, comply with obligations and international treaties, and restrict the powers of the military to six months. The commissioner welcomed the first pledge to bring forward amendments to the Egyptian constitution within 10 days, prior to their being put to the people within two months. “We will closely monitor the various stages and we hope that they will pave the way for democratic, free and fair elections later in the year”, added Füle who will report back to Ashton at the extraordinary General Affairs/External Relations Council meeting on Sunday.
The commissioner repeated that the EU stands ready to provide economic aid to Egypt, whose tourism industry is already suffering a backlash from the revolution. A €150 million per year aid programme was already in place during the Mubarak regime, the EU allocated €40 million over the period from 2007 to 2010 to projects seeking to improve governance and human rights, and it planned to provide €50 million over the period from 2011 to 2013 for the same goals. “The new situation in Egypt should create an environment that will make it more likely that this funding will be better used”, said Füle, adding that the EU is ready to provide financial assistance to Egypt to help it prepare for the forthcoming elections, should it request it, as Tunisia has already done. The EU is also considering a request from Egypt that the assets of seven high-ranking officials, not belonging to the Mubarak family, should be frozen. (E.H./transl.rt)