EU considering ‘all options’ against Egypt

EU foreign ministers may cut aid and arms sales following crackdown by Egyptian military.

Foreign ministers from the European Union’s 28 member states will meet in emergency session on Wednesday (21 August) to discuss whether to suspend aid and arms sales to Egypt in response to the authorities’ bloody crackdown on Islamists.

The meeting follows a statement yesterday (18 August) by Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, that the EU would “urgently review” relations with Egypt. Among the national leaders who have called for collective action is Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, who has said that the EU will “completely reappraise the situation regarding Egypt”.

More than 1,000 people are believed to have lost their lives since Egyptian security forces on Wednesday (14 August) broke up protests in support of Mohammad Morsi, who was ousted as president by the military on 3 July after huge public demonstrations against Morsi. 

EU member states’ ambassadors to the EU met today to prepare the ground for Wednesday’s meeting of foreign ministers. Speaking after the meeting, the EU’s special representative to the Middle East, Bernardino León, said today that “all options” remain open, including the possibility of an arms embargo.

One possibility that will be discussed is the suspension of a package of €5 billion in aid that the EU offered Egypt in November. Austria’s foreign minister, Michael Spindelegger, said on Sunday that the offer should be withheld “until the process returns to democracy”. Such a move would be largely symbolic. The aid is conditional on Egypt undertaking specific reforms and reaching an agreement on a financial-support programme with the International Monetary Fund. Those conditions have yet to be met.

The EU and its member states could also restrict existing programmes. Denmark has already suspended two bilateral aid projects. The concern for the EU is that such action would hurt civil society.

Other options include reviewing and adjusting elements of an association agreement that the EU signed with Egypt in 2001. The agreement, which came into force in 2004, gives Egypt preferential access – sometimes unrestricted – to the EU’s market. However, EU foreign ministers have previously identified the state of Egypt’s economy as a major problem and called on 22 July for the Egyptian government to take “urgent and concrete measures” to address the country’s economic challenges.

The US decided yesterday (18 August) to withhold funds for programmes involving the Egyptian government. It had earlier, on Thursday (15 August), suspended a scheduled joint military exercise. The US has not, however, suspended its financial support for Egypt’s military.

When asked about the possibility of the EU imposing an arms embargo, León said that “foreign ministers have been evoking different possibilities at this stage and I know that this [an arms embargo] is one of the possibilities”.

Egypt’s foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, yesterday (18 August) said that Egypt itself is reviewing its support from the EU. “I want to determine what is useful and what is not and what aid is being used to pressure Egypt and whether this aid has good intentions and credibility,” he said, adding: “We are not looking to replace one friend with another but we will look out to the world and continue to establish relations with other countries so we have options.”

Saudi Arabia today said that it would cover any cuts in aid by the EU and the US.

“To those who have announced they are cutting their aid to Egypt, or threatening to do that, [we say that] Arab and Muslim nations are rich…and will not hesitate to help Egypt,” said Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal.

Action by the EU could, however, prompt Egypt’s business class to exert pressure on the government. The EU is Egypt’s largest trading partner and the home of most of the tourists to Egypt. It also provides substantial funding for specific projects, through the European Investment Bank.

León said that he was convinced that “there are moderates in all sectors of Egyptian society” and urged Egyptians to reach a political settlement.

He noted, however, that that the situation “leaves little space for optimism”.

The EU has consistently called over the past six weeks for the Egyptian authorities to start a political dialogue that includes Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

León said last week that a deal between the government and the Muslim Brotherhood had been close shortly before the military crackdown. That hope has now been replaced with fear. Van Rompuy and Barroso warned yesterday that an escalation of violence in the country could have “unpredictable consequences” and France’s President Francois Hollande said on Thursday (15 August) invoked the prospect of a “civil war”.

In a further sign of escalation, suspected Islamist militants today killed 25 police officers in an ambush in the Sinai desert, near Egypt’s border with Israel.

Several Western companies, including Electrolux, General Motors and Shell, have suspended their activities in Egypt, citing security concerns. Tourists from many EU countries have been returning early from Egypt or have abandoned plans to visit.

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