AFRICA/EGYPT - Patriarch Tawadros to the European Union: help Egypt

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II received the representatives of the Delegation of the European Union present in Egypt on Tuesday evening, February 11th. The meeting with the Patriarch, which took place at St. Mark Cathedral in Cairo, was attended by the Ambassador James Moran – at the head of the EU Delegation in Egypt - and the head of the Delegation for Human Rights Karen Andersen. During the conversation with the EU representatives, Pope Tawadros stressed the need for the European Union and the entire international community to support and accompany the path taken by Egypt to end the crisis and start up the full functioning of democratic institutions again.
On 10 February, the Council of the European Union, in an official pronouncement dedicated to the current phase experienced by Egypt, had expressed appreciation for "the adoption of the new Constitution, by referendum on 14 and 15 January", but had also deplored "the absence of a fully inclusive process, the lack of attempts to overcome the polarization of society and the closing of political space for dissenting opinions before and during the referendum". In the statement the EU continues to be concerned about the measures of "selective justice against the political opposition", with an obvious reference to the arrests that have hit the leaders and activists of the Muslim Brotherhood after the deposition of President Mohamed Morsi. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 12/02/2014)