Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal threatened to cut off Dutch aid to Egypt in the event that “the attacks and oppression against Christians” continue, as he put it.
He also threatened to demand an independent investigation into the incident at the level of the European Union.
The threats came during a session of the Dutch Parliament during which Raymond Dinur, an MP from the right-wing Freedom Party, demanded the expulsion of the Egyptian Ambassador to Holland and for the Dutch Ambassador to Egypt to be recalled.
Dinur told the foreign minster, “The Dutch foreign ministry was using the carrot-and-stick policy with Egypt to advance the democratic process, and it is now was time to remove the carrot and use the stick”.
The exchanges took place following Rosenthal’s meeting with the representative of the Coptic Church in the Netherlands, after which he said he would visit Cairo later this month and meet with key figures of the Coptic community there.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
