Europe must stand behind Egypt’s democrats

Commentary feature. In the Mediterranean and North Africa, the EU has long followed a strategy of betting on authoritarian regimes to maintain stability and protect Europe’s security, while maintaining a façade of concern for democracy and human rights. Now the people of Tunisia and Egypt have shown that they take these universal values more seriously than European policymakers, and the EU’s response so far has seemed hesitant.

Emma Bonino is vice-president of the Italian Senate, a former European Commissioner and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Anthony Dworkin is a senior policy fellow at ECFR.

ESO: Background information: EU calls for restraint as Egypt revolt unfolds http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-calls-for-restraint-as-egypt-revolt-unfolds/

ESO: Background information: How did the world get Tunisia so wrong? http://www.europeansources.info/record/how-did-the-world-get-tunisia-so-wrong/

ECFR: Commentary: Don't just speak with one voice: Act! , February 2011 http://ecfr.eu/content/entry/commentary_dont_just_speak_with_one_voice_act

ECFR: Commentary: These are the real birth pangs of a new Middle East. Time for Europe to don a midwife’s uniform, January 2011 http://ecfr.eu/content/entry/commentary_these_are_the_real_birth_pangs_of_a_new_middle_east._time_for_eu

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