Europe's 27 leaders on Friday demanded Egypt's transition start "now" in a joint statement marking a policy U-turn in EU ties with its volatile neighbours on its southern flank. Slammed for doing too little too late as unrest unfurls on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, European Union leaders condemned violence "in the strongest terms" and urged restraint in Egypt's "orderly transition."
"This transition process must start now," they added in Europe's toughest joint response to the turmoil in Egypt. Under attack from European parliamentarians and rights groups for lagging behind the United States and putting security ahead of democracy, the strongest terms" and urged restraint in Egypt's "orderly transition."
"This transition process must start now," they added in Europe's toughest joint response to the turmoil in Egypt. Under attack from European parliamentarians and rights groups for lagging behind the United States and putting security ahead of democracy, Europe also issued a veiled threat of suspending aid.
Though well below US assistance, EU aid amounts to almost half a billion euros ($610 billion) in the current three-year period. The joint stand was issued at a summit originally scheduled to discuss energy, but hijacked by the crisis in Egypt as "departure day" protesters massed to call for President Hosni Mubarak to stand down.
Debate over the response to events in Egypt was "lively," according to one diplomat, with Italy's Silvio Berlusconi hoping for a painless handover and Britain's David Cameron hammering state-sponsored violence. "If we see on the streets of Cairo today state-sponsored violence or the hiring of thugs to beat up protesters, then Egypt and its regime would lose any remaining credibility or support it has in the eyes of the Western world," said the British premier.
"Egypt should be taking steps to show there is a clear, credible, transparent path towards transition," Cameron added. "Frankly the steps taken so far haven't met the aspirations of the Egyptian people." The protests across the Arab world have also unleashed a storm within the EU, with the bloc's foreign affairs chief, English baroness Catherine Ashton, taking much of the flak for failing to give strong impetus to EU diplomacy. Responding to criticism that Europe in the past backed authoritarian regimes in the region as a bulwark against Islamist extremists, the leaders pledged to turn a page in its foreign policy thinking.
EU leaders were "committed to a new partnership involving more effective support in the future to those countries which are pursuing political and economic reforms," their statement said. It said the future would see the bloc lending "full support" to Tunisia and Egypt in their move towards democratic governance and economic prosperity.
The uprising of both peoples were "in accord with the values the European Union promotes for itself and throughout the world." Critics say the EU has been waiving its commitments to democracy and human rights in the interests of stability in the Middle East. "Europe believed in a strategy of small steps where economic development progressively would bring democratic reform," said Tunisian academic Azam Majoub. "This model is dead in the water."
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