Tags: France Egypt El-Sisi Macron
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Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el Sisi ended a three-day State visit in France despite a strong opposition from human right activists. Egypt has cracked down severely on political dissent in recent years.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi at the Elysee Palace in Paris during his official visit to France, December 7, 2020 (AFP)
State visits are considered to be the highest expression of friendly bilateral relations between two sovereign states. In France, State ceremonies are held at either the Elysee Palace or Les Invalides, with the participation of the Infantry and Fanfare Band of the French Republican Guard Band and the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Republican Guard.
In fact, a State visit is a great opportunity to communicate and boost bilateral relations. In this case however, French medias were not invited to cover the event and next to nothing was shared on the Elysee website. Most of the pictures come from Egyptian medias.
The truth is: France is embarrassed. 17 French and international human rights groups issued a statement accusing President Macron of turning a blind eye to what they say are increasing violations of freedoms by Sisi’s government.
Even within French officials there are doubts about the close embrace of Sisi, who has presided while thousands of opponents have been jailed.
“I don’t know what we gain from this visit. It’s business as usual,”
‘Human rights comes second’
political prisoners detained in Egypt
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Source : Michel Euler/AP/Shutterstock
El-Sissi has overseen the toughest crackdown on critics in Egypt in living memory, jailing thousands of Islamists along with pro-democracy activists, reversing freedoms won in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, silencing critics and placing draconian rules on rights groups.
In October and November alone, the Egyptian authorities executed at least 57 men and women, nearly double the recorded 32 people they executed throughout 2019, Amnesty International explained.
Emmanuel Macron could have seize the occasion to discuss human rights, instead he conspicuously sidestepped an opportunity to hold Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi accountable for his government’s flagrant violations of human rights.
‘Better have my money’
arms sold to Egypt in 2017
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billion
Since 2015, France has sold considerable amounts of weaponry to Egypt, including two French-made Mistral-class helicopter carriers and two dozen French Rafale advanced fighter jets.
France is the third largest arms exporter in the world behind the United States and Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, but the country comes first when it comes to Egypt, which accounts for 26 percent of France’s defense exports.
Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he would not condition the sale of weapons to Egypt on human rights because he did not want to weaken Cairo’s ability to counter terrorism in the region, a comment likely to draw the ire of critics.
“We do not have anything to be afraid of or embarrassed about it, we are a nation that is striving to build a future for its people in extremely harsh conditions in a region of great turmoil.” said President el Sisi.
Other priorities?
“Macron’s priorities are to restore France’s position as Egypt’s largest supplier of arms, and to keep its authoritarian president onside in his feud with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sisi has his own grievances against Erdogan, most prominently the Turkish intervention in the Libyan civil war, which turned the tide against the side backed by Egypt.” wrote BloomberQuint.
The visit also comes during a deep backlash towards France from many Muslim countries and the Muslim world, over the French’s Freedom of Speech. While Turkish’s Erdogan has angrily criticised French President for pledging to defend secularism against radical Islam, Egypt’ Sisi made sure it is clear that Egypt rejects any form of violence in response to cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
In a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace, President el Sisi spoke of his belief in the “sacred” nature of religion. He added that he is concerned by the erosion of religious values and the prospect of offending millions of people if the supremacy of religion is not upheld.
However, the French president took a different view. In France, he said, “we consider that nothing can be above man and respect for the dignity of the human person”, adding “it is the contribution of the philosophy of the Enlightenment.”
At least they had a disagreement.
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