Minister for Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino summoned the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Amr Mostafa Kamal Helmy, to the foreign ministry this afternoon.
The minister firmly condemned the acts of violence that took place yesterday in Egypt, expressing pain and shock at the high cost in human lives and asserting that, “The use of force by the police was brutal, disproportionate and unjustifiable”.
Italy strongly advocates the timely cessation of the state of emergency, all violence on both sides and indiscriminate repression and political arrests, and that the Egyptian forces of order conduct themselves with the maximum self-control.
Minister Bonino also expressed the hope that the Muslim Brotherhood leaders work to stop the protests and maintain the peace, ensuring, in particular, security and access to places of worship.
The minister also stated, during her meeting with Ambassador Helmy, that Italy’s expectation is that “Egypt is able, as soon as possible, to resume a democratic process founded on the normal functioning of civil institutions and that guarantees the maximum inclusion of all the country’s political forces, including the Muslim Brotherhood”.
“The future of Egypt is in the hands of its people”, Bonino insisted, “and it is everyone’s responsibility, first and foremost the interim government, to work toward establishing the conditions for resumption of the democratic transition”.
