BICOM

Following an emergency meeting of European Union foreign ministers yesterday, the EU agreed to restrict exports of security equipment and arms to Egypt in response to the mounting violence but opted to maintain economic assistance. EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to forge a common response following Egypt’s crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood supporters that has resulted in a number of deaths since last week.

 

As the meeting began, ministers stopped short of calling for full-fledged economic sanctions on Egypt, instead urging limits on weapon sales along with renewed efforts to find a political solution. The EU in November announced that 5 billion euros (£4.2 billion) in aid and loans are available to Egypt, including about 1 billion euros in direct EU assistance that has mostly been on hold because Egypt has not met payment conditions.

 

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that the bloc would review the issue of assistance to Egypt with the understanding that assistance to the most ‘vulnerable’ groups and to civil society must continue. “Member states have agreed to suspend export licences to Egypt of any equipment used for internal repression, and to reassess their export licences covered by the EU common position,” she said. Ashton added that EU ministers strongly condemned not only the disproportionate use of force by the Egyptian security forces but also violence by some of those opposed to the authorities. EU Ministers also called on all sides to go back to the negotiating table to avoid further bloodshed.

 

The EU has emerged a key player in Egypt since the army deposed Mohammed Morsi on 3 July.  Ashton then became the first foreign official to meet Morsi. The EU’s subsequent mediation efforts, conducted jointly with the US, collapsed earlier in August. Several days later, government forces killed hundreds of Morsi’s supporters during a crackdown.