Brussels, 12/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The visit of the Egyptian President, Mohammed Morsi, to Brussels on Thursday 13 September may be described as historic. Having already travelled to Saudi Arabia and China, the Egyptian president has chosen the “European capital” for his third official visit. But what really makes this visit historic is the fact that Morsi is “the first democratically elected president following the revolutions of the Arab Spring”, as a European diplomat summed up. The Egyptian democratic process is vital to the EU, as Egypt is the country with the highest population and the greatest influence in the region. The future Egyptian constitution will be crucial to this democratic process and it is going in the right direction, the source added. Its creation will be central to the Europeans' talks with President Morsi. More generally, discussions will focus on the form to be taken by the new relationship being created between Egypt and the EU. Other important subjects are expected to be tackled during the meeting between Morsi and the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton: recovering the assets that the Egyptian authorities of the previous regime had placed in Europe, as well as the option of an IMF loan to Egypt, for which the EU had played a major role.
Egypt's action in settling the Syrian conflict is also expected to be part of this initial dialogue in Brussels, as well as the recent attacks that targeted the US Representation in Tripoli and Cairo (see other article). This diplomatic source, however, is not ruling out the possibility of obtaining more “efficient” protection of European delegations in the region. (MD/trans/fl)