Something more from the EU

On December 31, 21 people were killed and 79 were wounded as a result of a suicide bombing in front of the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria, Egypt. This abominable crime is unprecedented in its dimension, although the Coptic community in Egypt is the target of ongoing acts of violence. For decades Coptic Christians – accounting for 6%-10% of an overall population of 80 million Egyptians – have been the victims of reprisals. They are also excluded from gaining political leadership positions. A small number of elected Coptic representatives sit in the Egyptian parliament, consisting of 508 seats. Since December the highly symbolical shrine of the Church of the Two Saints had been listed as a potential target. The Copts vented their anger against the government in a rally, blaming Egyptian leaders for having overlooked security measures. President Mubarak said the attack was the work of “foreign hands”, but as no one has claimed responsibility for the attack it cannot be excluded that it was carried out by Egyptians. Local Salafist fringes have also been mentioned as the possible perpetrators of the crime. World leaders condemned the attack and expressed their grief to the Egyptian population and to their government. In the speech to the diplomatic corps past Monday, Pope Benedict XVI deplored the attack in Alexandria, along with the deadly attack in Baghdad past October 31 and others still: “The attacks are yet another sign of the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, despite the difficulties and threats, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities”. Following the Pope’s words, the Egyptian government called back its ambassador for consultations and thus conveyed its contrariness. Moreover, this diplomatic gesture could be understood as a warning to the European Union, following the request to the High Representative of the European Union Catherine Ashton by the Foreign ministers of Italy, France, Hungary and Poland to put the item on the agenda of the Council for Foreign Affairs of January 31st 2011, “to discuss the respect of religious freedoms”. In their letter of January 5 the ministers also suggested Ms. Ashton to present “concrete proposals aimed at promoting the respect of the freedom of religion and faith”.It’s not yet clear whether the High Representative – who is the permanent chair of the current Council of European Ministers – will follow through the request, but the pressure is mounting, especially after other European Countries said they will support the initiative of the four Countries. In fact, if the foreign chanceries’ debate took place it would be good news. It is also to be hoped that the Euro-Parliament delegation for relations with the Mashrek Countries will equally address the issue during the forthcoming session of January 26. What can Europeans do? First of all, they should reach a unanimous stand on the defense of religious freedom in the world and address the question in bilateral and multilateral meetings on a regular basis. As relates to Egypt, in 2007 the Country ratified an Action Plan with the EU, meant to replace the Association Agreement that was in force since 2004. The priority action lay down in the plan is “upholding and promoting human rights, stepping up intercultural and interreligious dialogue, and cooperate in promoting the respect of religions and cultures”. The document calls for “strengthening the respect of human rights in Egypt and in the European Union”. During the next Council of the Association, the contents of the Agreement will be addressed in order to step up the security of the Coptic community and enable them to lead a peaceful life in their home country. Another proposal on financial aid is bound to yield very few results. Certainly those who propose threatening cuts to development aid in Egypt could legitimately claim that the stakes are high. According to the World Bank, in 2008 Egypt was the recipient of financial aids amounting to 1.35 billion dollars; more than half of this sum was granted by the EU and its Member States. There is a serious risk that the cuts could affect the poorer population brackets, which include the Copts. Indeed, even though Egypt is the recipient of large amounts of funding, in 2008 such expenses amounted to only 2.7% of all expenses of the central government. Compared to Countries receiving similar aids, this percentage is relatively low. For example Kenia depends for 20% of its central expenses on foreign aid and Nigeria for 8.5%.In multilateral environments it’s possible that the United Nations are influenced by the European Union. Following the recent meeting with president Obama, the proposal of president Sarkozy was to put the “questions of acts of violence” on the agenda of the G8 summit in Deauville in May. And what if Europe were about to speak with a voice, a single voice to boost the defense of the freedom of thought and religion in the world?