Following statements by European officials that the EU was mulling its response to recent attacks on Christians in the Arab world–particularly in Iraq and Egypt–Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) on Sunday stressed its rejection of any "interference" by the EU in the country's internal affairs.
On its official website, the NDP described the European position as a "biased" one, which "aims to assist those promoting sectarian sedition by rallying international public opinion against Egypt." The ruling party went on to urge the EU to "stop playing the role of guardian of other nations."
The NDP went on to describe perceived interference in Egypt's domestic affairs by Europe as "a return to the redundant arguments of the 19th century, which used the protection of minorities as a pretext to interfere in other states' internal affairs."
On Saturday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said the EU had "no right" to assess Egypt's performance in dealing with the Coptic Christian community or its handling of Muslim-Coptic relations.
"Regretfully, we're beginning to see some disturbing attitudes on the part of some European politicians," said Abul Gheit, going on to assert that most of these politicians were affiliated with "right-wing" groups. "The primary aim of these attitudes is to benefit certain internal political situations in their respective countries," he noted.
"We will not allow recent events in Egypt to be used as an excuse by western politicians to serve hidden agendas," the FM added.
On Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini reportedly sent a letter–signed by the foreign ministers of Italy, France, Poland and Hungary–requesting that the alleged persecution of Christians in the Middle East be discussed at an upcoming meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
