EU appeals for calm in Egypt

The European Union Thursday said that it does not favor military intervention in politics and urged for a swift return to the democratic process in Egypt. "The most important thing is that all parties in Egypt stay calm, begin a dialogue and above all return to the democratic process as soon as possible," Michael Mann, spokesman for EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, told a news conference in Brussels. "The most important thing to underline is that there has to be an inclusive process in Egypt," he said. "We of course are not in favor of military intervention in politics," said Mann but declined to answer if what happened in Egypt yesterday was a military coup. "The events yesterday were a difficult moment in the transition to democracy," he stated. "It was interesting that the army said that they did it in order to avoid bloodshed. It was also interesting that there was a large coalition of people at the announcement and there were a lot of people on the streets. We want to avoid violence. We want everybody to talk to each other," said the EU spokesman. He noted that the EU did not provide any budgetary support to Egypt this year as we did not feel that enough progress was made in the last few months." The EU special representative for the Southern Mediterranean, Bernardino Leon, is now in Cairo and is having meetings with all parties and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton spoke to political leader Mohammad ElBaradei last night, he said. Responding to a question on the fate of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, he replied "it is rather unclear what has happened to President Morsi. Of course we are trying to clarify his whereabouts and what has happened to him. All principles of human rights must be applied and any judicial procedure should be in line with international standards." Commenting on possible repercussions in the region due to the events in Egypt, Mann said "each country is very different. What happened in Egypt does not mean necessarily that it will happen elsewhere." Meanwhile, Hannes Swoboda, president of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament in a statement today said "military intervention can never be the solution". "While we recognise the support for the military action from some of the Egyptian people, only democratic procedures can guarantee the sound development of the country. It is of crucial importance that Egypt returns to civilian rule without delay, based on the outcome of free and fair elections," he added.