European Union accuses Egyptian military of political interference

The European Union has expressed its regret for Egypt’s failure to implement a series of recommendations aimed at making the country more democratic.

The European Commission issued on Thursday its annual European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) report for Egypt, which found that Egypt did not make “any particular progress” in 2013 and accused the military of exercising considerable influence over major political decisions in Egypt.

The Commission, however, did acknowledge that 2013 was “a very difficult year” for Egypt, especially given the existence of the “deep political crisis” in the country that led to the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The report observed that: “in view of the political developments, Egypt did not deal with the main recommendations” of last year’s ENP report. The Commission expressed its concern over the “political polarisation” in Egypt and the deterioration of freedoms, including the freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press.

In light of these developments, the Commission recommended for Egypt “to organise real democratic presidential and parliamentary elections in line with international standards”.

The ENP report was published one day after Egypt’s Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced that he would be running for president.

The report also called for a “complete halt of using military courts to judge civilians”.

According to Amnesty International, more than 12,000 civilians, including journalists, were tried before military courts under the previous rule of the Egyptian armed forces, which lasted for 17 months starting from February 2011 to June 2012. Mass military trials have continued after the July 2013 coup that ousted President Morsi.