Egypt is facing a loss of 82 million euros from the European Union due to its lack of commitment to improving human rights conditions. This threat was evident in light of Egypt’s choice of escalation in the face of the European Parliament’s decision calling for a review of relations with Egypt in light of the deteriorating human rights situation there. The European Parliament approved a decision to review Cairo’s financial support, in light of the common commitment to human rights standards that comes within cooperation agreements with the European Union.

In its decision, the parliament said, “The human rights situation in Egypt is deteriorating as the authorities intensify their repressive campaign against civil society, human rights defenders, health workers, journalists, members of the opposition, academics and lawyers.” He added, “Egypt continues to brutally and systematically suppress any form of dissent, thus undermining basic freedoms, especially freedom of expression, whether online or offline, association and assembly, political pluralism, the right to participate in public affairs and the rule of law.”

Egypt had squandered the opportunity to benefit from about 60 million euros in the fields of development after it backed away from reaching a financial cooperation agreement with the European Union during the past year due to its refusal to abide by human rights standards. This was repeated in the past few months with Cairo’s insistence on evading any commitment to improving the human rights situation, which this time could deprive it of benefiting from 82 million euros.

According to a European source, “the current situation in Egypt has become disturbing, and it may destabilize a large and important country for us.” The source believes that there is no retreat from the pressure against the Egyptian regime to review its human rights situation. He says that the matter has become very worrying for all European countries, including those who do not want to raise the issue on the European Union table, which is expected to discuss Egypt’s human rights situation during their meeting, next January, in Brussels.

On the other hand, Egypt showed great anger at the European Parliament’s decision, which it described as “insulting,” according to government sources. The Egyptian sources said that Cairo could not accept the European Parliament’s decision, especially since it believes that it was very cooperative with the Italians regarding the case of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, as well as with European demands to release the EIPR team last month. The sources threatened that the Egyptian authorities would review promises they had previously made, to work on some specific issues related to human rights.

At the same time, the Egyptian side is troubled by the approaching date of the inauguration of the US president-elect, Joe Biden, on January 20, especially since he criticized the human rights situation in Egypt last July by saying that “there are no more blank checks for Trump’s favorite dictator.” Biden was talking about Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom the outgoing US President Donald Trump addressed with this title in September of last year, during one of the G7 summit meetings, according to the “Wall Street Journal.”

According to Egyptian sources, the authorities discuss their options to deal with the current situation, explaining that Cairo felt offended when an Italian journalist restored the French Legion of Honor in protest against his awarding of Sisi. Egypt expressed reservations about France not defending the honor of Al-Sisi due to his role in supporting the security of the region and the Mediterranean basin. Egyptian circles say, “Europeans need to remember the important role that Egypt played in stopping unofficial migration and solving Coptic problems inside the country.” However, European sources talk about Egypt’s need to realize that the world cannot turn a blind eye to Egypt’s human rights situation and that it cannot be overlooked for the sake of other files.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of “Human Rights Watch,” had better summarized the real content of Sisi’s visit to France, when he said that he “skillfully played to support European interests, portraying him as a bulwark against terrorism and immigration, a friend of Israel, and a prolific buyer of weapons.” After his recent visit to France, activists in non-governmental organizations expressed their “disappointment” because French President Emmanuel Macron had put economic interests before the file of human rights.

Al-Sisi’s regime faces local and international criticism regarding restricting freedoms and arresting dissidents, but Cairo repeatedly affirms its commitment to adhering to the law and human rights principles.

Human rights organizations refer to the great hopes attached to the popular revolution that began on January 25, 2011, and led to the overthrow of the regime of former President “Hosni Mubarak.” However, these organizations say that Egypt has turned 10 years after that revolution into a huge prison, where tens of thousands of political, human rights, and media detainees are still languishing in prisons. Egypt still records record numbers of applied death sentences. In a report, Amnesty International stated that during the past two months, the Egyptian authorities had executed at least 57 men and women, which is near twice the number of the 32 persons recorded executed in 2019. According to the international organization, “This horrific attack on the right to life included at least 15 people, who were sentenced to death in cases related to political violence after grossly unfair trials marred by forced confessions, and other gross violations of human rights, including torture and enforced disappearance.”