Germany uneasy over security situation in Egypt

Germany believes the security situation in Egypt is unstable, Ambassador Julius Georg Luy said yesterday.

In his first press conference, Luy told reporters at the embassy in Cairo that officials have placed barricades around the embassy’s walls in the Zamalek district because of “our assessment of the security situation in Egypt since the attack on the Italian consulate in 2015.”

Last year, a Daesh affiliate group claimed responsibility for the attack on the Italian consulate in Cairo which killed one person and injuring several others.

The German ambassador said the only condition to achieve security and stability in Egypt is to include civil society organisations which do not resort to violence.

He pointed out that two German officials will visit Cairo including the German interior minister and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s deputy.

“The German and Egyptian governments are currently putting a framework to facilitate the German institutions’ work in civil society,” he said, adding that bureaucracy and corruption are among the main problems in the country.