French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said on Tuesday that the newly-elected Parliament in Egypt has declared its commitment to the rights of Copts.
State-run news service MENA cited Juppé as saying that it is in the interest of Arab Christians to take part in the positive developments in their countries, particularly in Syria.
In an article published on Tuesday in La Croix, a French Catholic paper, Juppé said that while Christian minorities in Arab countries are worried about rising tensions connected to sectarianism, France “has been and will always be on their side.”
He added that the best protection for Arab Christians lies in the establishment of democracy and the rule of law in Arab countries.
He called on Arab Christians not to pay attention to maneuvers by autocratic regimes that are entirely disconnected from their people. He called on Christians in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East to embrace the “irreversible positive” developments in their countries, saying this is the means for them to protect their futures.
“Our confidence in the Arab Spring revolutions is accompanied with a constant vigilance about the respect of human rights, particularly minority rights,” he said, adding that he emphasized this issue in his communications with the Syrian National Council.
