Brussels, 04/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - During her fourteenth visit to Egypt, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton called again for an inclusive transition process in Egypt in order to exit from the crisis after President Morsi was ousted on 3 July. She said that the EU stresses the importance of inclusiveness to ensure that Egypt's political future belongs to the Egyptian people, and she said that it is the Egyptian people that decide and that have the opportunity in the near future to make their voice heard at the elections. Involving others is “really important in trying to find a way forward that's going to enable people to participate fully in political life”, she said. However, the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood continues.
Not a mediator's role. “Inclusiveness means trying to involve everybody and that also means reaching out to each other”, Ashton stated, saying that “it is important to find ways to have the right kind of dialogue and that's what we've been urging everyone”. However, she stressed that this is “not because we are interfering” and that she herself had not come to interfere or to mediate. “We don't insist on anything. It's your country. We are just (…) glad to be partners and glad to be supporters of Egypt finding its way to democracy in an inclusive way”, she said.
In Ashton's view, there has been a fair amount of outreach. “What I mean by outreach is that I hear people saying we understand the importance of inclusivity”, she said, quoting the example of the ways in which people have tried to engage others in the work on the constitution.
During her meetings, Ashton also discussed the economic situation, and the situations in Sinai and Syria. She spoke to Egypt's Interim President Adly Mansour, Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa El Deen, Minister for Defence Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Minister for Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy, President of the Constitutional Council Amre Moussa, Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb, Coptic Pope Tawadros II, members of the Freedom and Justice Party, and of the al-Nour party, and members of civil society. (CG/transl.fl)