European Liberals congratulate the Egyptian people to their determination for freedom

Following President Hosni Mubarak’s announcement of not running again for Presidency last night, a peaceful transition in Egypt now seems possible. Whether this will be enough, we cannot yet know. However, European Liberals reiterate that the Egyptian people, who have put the strive for liberty before the fear for repercussion and turned out in numbers to show their will to achieve democracy peacefully, have the right to select their government in free elections. "The scenes from Cairo's central Tahrir square remind us of the "Montagsdemonstrationen" on Berlin Alexandersquare in the autumn of 1989. There is now clearly the chance for a moderated transition process involving the Egyptian society as whole and to draft a new constitution based on these  liberal democratic values and to prepare free and fair elections", commented ELDR Party President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck MEP. “Europe has to critically admit that we have not done enough in the past to support such a process. Singling out two bad options – autocracy or Islamism – is too simple”, she continued.

European Liberals call again upon the EU's high representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, to raise her voice more clearly and to stretch out our hand on behalf of Europe to support the facilitation of a transition process at which end Egyptians can determine their political will. "It is in Europe's greatest interest to ensure political freedom and stability in its southern neighborhood and to support a new Egyptian government living in good relations to all its neighbors. The outcome of Monday’s Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting in Brussels was on the whole satisfactory. I am however afraid that the ordinary citizen does not have a habit of reading technical conclusions from the European Council. Catherine Ashton should take a more proactive stance on this issue, so that people do not wrongly accuse the EU for not doing anything", President Neyts-Uyttebroeck concluded.

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