Germany Offers Lukewarm Welcome to Egypt's Leader | Al Jazeera America - 0 views
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The uneasy relationship between European economic interests and foreign policy ideals was on full display Wednesday in the German capital.
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Standing by Sisi at a joint news conference in Berlin, Merkel said that Germany and Egypt have many common interests but maintain different views on issues such as the death sentence and other human rights matters. “I think that if one wants to be partners and solve complex issues, we have to be able talk about these things,” she said.
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Despite Merkel’s criticism and the ideological sparring, the the trip has been a big success for Sisi, whose regime “presides over the gravest human rights crisis Egypt in decades,” according to a joint statement by Amnesty International and other nongovernmental organizations. She previously stated that she would not host him in Berlin until Egypt held fair parliamentary elections. Such elections have not yet taken place.
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Germany’s Parliament Speaker Norbert Lammert took a stand against the visit, saying there were no grounds for a meeting with Sisi because Sisi contributes neither to domestic peace nor to the democratization of his country.
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“After El Sisi took over power in Egypt, they became a very strong partner of Israel —which is also a very important issue for Germany — containing the situation in Gaza,” Boehnke told Al Jazeera. “I think [Germany] wants to push Egypt to its more traditional role as one the stakeholders in the Middle East and one of the partners.”