Egypt’s ambassadors in Europe have intensified communications in their respective host countries, the majority being from the European Union bloc.
Egyptian diplomats in Sweden, Latvia, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Poland, Norway and Ukraine all held meetings with government officials in each country. All countries except Ukraine are members of the EU that decided last Wednesday to revoke export licenses from Egypt for equipment that could be “used for internal repression”.
The Charge d’affaires of the Egyptian embassy in Sweden, Marwa Lashin met with the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s Director of Political Affairs and Latvian Foreign Ministry’s Director General for Security Policy. Lashin told the representatives about the developments on the ground and the “acts of violence and terrorism against the Egyptian people and state installations, which must be condemned with the utmost force by the international community.”
This was a common message conveyed by the Egyptian diplomats. During his meeting with Croatia’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, Ambassador Ayman Al-Far stressed Egypt’s “rejection of the way some western media have covered the events in Egypt, and its disregard to convey the whole and true picture of what is happening.” He also rejected “the efforts of some western countries to internationalise the internal affairs of Egypt.” The Croatian minister highlighted “the importance of preserving the institutions of the state in light of the democratic transition.” The minister also rejected “any attempts to apply any European sanctions against Egypt,” said a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Egypt’s ambassador in Poland, Reda Beibars, met with the director of the Middle East department of the Polish Foreign Ministry and handed over a letter from Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy and a list of links to video footage to “emphasise criminal activities” the government is facing.
Meetings in Norway and Greece followed a similar tone, according to the flurry of official statements sent out by the Egyptian ministry on Saturday.
In the German capital, ambassador to Germany Mohammed Hegazy attended an event organised by the Coptic Church in Berlin “under the title, ‘pray for peace in Egypt’.” Hegazy delivered a speech at the event in which he “expressed Egypt’s appreciation for the role of the national Church” and stressed the “awareness and wisdom of the Church and the people of Egypt, Muslims and Copts of the lack of response to attempts by extremists to drag Egypt into sectarian strife.” Hegazy called on the heads of German churches and the media to “clarify the picture to the German public and convey a realistic picture of what is going on in Egypt and its people’s determination to meet the challenge of terrorism and violence.” He appealed to the German government to condemn the attacks on churches in Egypt.
In Ukraine, Ambassador Osama Tawfik Badr met with Ukrainian envoy for the Middle East and North Africa. Badr handed over another letter from Fahmy that explained “the real situation in Egypt and the challenges faced in the present time.” Tawfik also requested that the Ukrainian government lift the travel warnings that have prevented Ukrainian tourists from being able to visit the Red Sea resorts.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been working intensively to convey the “correct and proper” image of Egypt to the world since former President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in the beginning of July.
