EN
E-001629/2021
Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell on behalf of the European Commission
(3.6.2021)
The EU follows closely the case of Mr. Ahmed Samir. The EU Delegation in Cairo has included the case in the EU ‘trial monitoring list’ with diplomats from the EU Delegation and EU Member States attending hearings. The EU Special Representative for Human Rights has raised the case directly with the Egyptian authorities.
In line with the 2013 Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions on Egypt1, the EU’s assistance to Egypt is directed to civil society and the socio-economic sector supporting the most vulnerable groups in the Egyptian society. Guided by the EU-Egypt Partnership Priorities2, the EU’s relations with Egypt are based on the EU’s commitment to the respect of human rights and the rule of law.
The EU and Egypt identify the security of its peoples as a shared objective and discuss the issue in bilateral contacts. Concerning the broader security sector, the EU and Egypt have identified cooperation priorities, inter alia, in the field of counter-terrorism, including the prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism, notably in prisons. There are EU regional projects in this field for the Middle East and North Africa region that are available also to Egypt such as the ‘Sharaka project’3. Moreover, Egypt benefits from other regional programmes such as EUROMED Police4, which enhances the institutional capacity of the EU’s southern neighbours in order to protect their citizens against transnational serious and organised crime.
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1 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/138599.pdf
2 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/23942/eu-egypt.pdf
3 https://www.interpol.int/en/Crimes/Terrorism/Counter-terrorism-projects/Project-Sharaka
4 https://www.cepol.europa.eu/media/news/eu-cepol-europol-jointly-launch-new-project-euromed-police