Brussels, 31/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 30 July, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton stated that the transition process in Egypt must begin now. Egypt “needs to go forward peacefully. Any violence must stop. People need to come together, to find the road to the future together. Only an inclusive process will work, and though I recognise that this is challenging, it is really important to begin now”, she said at the end of her meeting with Egypt's interim Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei.
She explained to the Egyptians that “the challenge really is to find the way in which you can bring people together and go forward, bearing in mind that the starting points are far apart. This is what leadership is about and this is what the challenge is for all of those who are privileged to play a leadership role in any aspect of political life in this country.”
Léon returns to Egypt. Ashton stated that she would return to Egypt. However, in the meantime, she called on EU Special Representative Bernardino Léon to return to Egypt to continue discussions with all parties. Léon arrived on 31 July, “to continue the contacts Ashton has made” and to remain “as long as needed”, according to a European source. The EU reiterated that it is working in Egypt with wide support from both the US and other international partners.
EU must continue its mediation. Several MEPs welcomed Ashton's initiative. In the view of the leader of the S&D Group, Hannes Swoboda (Austria), this action “is a good example of the EU's foreign policy”. He called for the return to democracy.
Franziska Brantner MEP (Greens/EFA, Germany) believed that Ashton's initiative “has raised hopes in Egypt”. In Brantner's opinion, “the EU must now continue what it has started, with a series of intensive and long meetings at different levels and with mediation experts”. Brantner stated that, while the Muslim Brotherhood must be part of the reconciliation process, “no false hopes should, however, be invoked, such as the return of Morsi to power”. The military must renounce any further acts of violence, and respect the rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, Brantner added. (CG/transl.fl)