CAIRO: The international community is giving mixed responses to the mass protests in Egypt which are well into their third week. Over the years many countries have supported the rule of President Hosni Mubarak and reacting to the events has been problematic for some.
In the US, a major shift has taken place since the protests began on Jan. 25 when Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said, "Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people."
As the Obama administration balances its strategic interests with democratic reform, Washington’s message is now calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to transition out of power and for that process to begin now.
But Washington is having a hard time defining what transition is and what kind of government it would accept in Egypt. On Feb. 8, Vice President Joe Biden said the US seeks "for an orderly transition in Egypt that is prompt, meaningful, peaceful, and legitimate," including "immediate, irreversible progress that responds to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.”
Many in Egypt are angered by the US supporting transition under Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and a refusal to call for Mubarak’s immediate resignation.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday he hoped Egypt would move towards democracy and not another form of dictatorship. Sarkozy, the first foreign leader to react to President Hosni Mubarak’s announcement that he was handing power to his vice-president, said: "It was unavoidable."
"I hope with all my heart for Egypt’s nascent democracy that they take time to create the structures and principles that will help them find the path to democracy and not another form of dictatorship, religious dictatorship, like what happened in Iran," Reuters reported.
The European Union is supporting reform in Egypt but with a tone similar to the US. The EU foreign minister, Catherine Ashton, has told reporters that, “The challenge with Egypt is to work out how to get that process moving effectively so that there is both an end point that people believe in, and a process that people believe in.” This kind of soft rhetoric ensures that the EU can say it is pro-democracy while not insulting Egypt’s future leadership who may come from within the Mubarak regime.
Then on Friday, she said that the time for Egypt to secure a change in government "is now," after Mubarak clung on in a televised speech the night before, AFP reported.
"President Mubarak has not yet opened the way to faster and deeper reforms," Ashton said in a fresh statement released after the veteran leader left massed protesters disappointed and angry by refusing to quit immediately.
"We will pay close attention to the response by the Egyptian people in the coming hours and days," she added today.
"The time for change is now," she underlined.
Of the European leaders only Silvio Berlusconi has strayed since the protests began. On Feb. 4 the Italian Prime Minister called Mubarak a “wise man” in a statement calling for an orderly transition to democracy that implied that Berlusconi did not support a Mubarak resignation. Of the other EU states, the UK and Germany have come out strongly criticizing the Mubarak regime for using violence on the peaceful protesters and both countries have been proponents of immediate change.
Ironically, as the US struggles with handling the reform movement in Egypt, Iranian officials have been staunchly supportive. Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, the leader of Iran, hopes for reform that will lead to a new Islamic regime in Cairo. And while speaking to a group of Lebanese, Hezbollah’s top leader Hassan Nasrallah said he wished he could be among the demonstrators in Tahrir Square. Mubarak has been seen by the two as a puppet of Israel. Furthering the irony is Iran’s main democratic opposition movement, led by Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, is trying to harness the events in Egypt as well. They are planning a solidarity rally on Feb. 14, and the Facebook page for the event has more than 22,000 supporters.
While Chinese officials have remained publicly silent they have not so subtlety blocked internet search terms related to Egypt and instructed the media to only run stories coming from the official news agency. Like China the Russian government is being careful not to support Egyptian protesters as its own power could be challenged by a democratic uprising. The Russian foreign ministry has called for “stability” in Egypt though Russia could score a minor victory if Mubarak’s pro-US regime leaves power.
