After a two-day visit in Egypt and many fruitful meetings with NGOs and the Egyptian authorities – in particular with President al-Sisi – Gianni Pittella, leader of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, stated:
"The Socialists and Democrats are willing to support the current path adopted by the government and the Egyptian president, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, aimed at stabilising the country – but only if it will commit to the full implementation of the constitution in a reasonable timeframe.
"We perfectly understand the need to counter the terrorism threat and we also recognise the Egyptian authorities' efforts so far on this issue.
"Egypt has already shown its diplomatic and political capacities in negotiating the ceasefire agreement for Gaza. We believe Egypt has the chance to build a stable and democratic model and to play a leading role in the region. This would clearly be in Egypt's interests, but also in Europe's interests.
"However – as I underlined in my meeting with President al-Sisi – we as Socialists and Democrats cannot accept any compromise on defending human rights, civil society and minorities' rights.
"Egypt has to end some of the emergency laws in place, especially those which restrict the right to protest, media freedoms and NGOs' activities. In particularly we consider the role of NGOs to be essential and crucial in creating the conditions for a mature democracy.
"After lengthy discussions with the president, I am confident that the roadmap for democratic-oriented reforms will be put in place more quickly and that the planned parliamentary election will take place in the first months of 2015."
