European Foreign Ministers will meet Wednesday in Brussels for emergency talks on the EU’s relations with Egypt in response to the Egyptian authorities' crackdown on Islamists supporters of ousted President Morsi.
Egypt’s military continues to see the Muslim Brotherhood as a threat to Egypt’s future.
Discussions will include proposals to halt aid programs and suspend arms shipments to Egypt.
The EU has promised Egypt a total of 5 billion euros (6.7 billion US dollars) in grants and loans.
Bernardino Leon, EU’s Special Representative for the Southern Mediterranean, told journalists Monday that EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will present a document for the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. He said that “all options” remain open, including the possibility of an arms embargo.
Ambassadors to the EU of the 28 member states met Monday to prepare the ground for Wednesday's meeting.
According to EU diplomats, some EU members suggested the bloc should scale back the financial aid, while some were worrying that the restrictive measures may have a deeper impact on the population than on the government.
Leon said the EU insists on political solutions to the Egypt crisis and is convinced that "the political solutions are possible."
“All violence from both sides needs to stop. There are no easy solutions, no easy way out. But the E.U. will keep striving for this,” he said.
When asked about the possibility of the EU imposing an arms embargo, Leon said that “foreign ministers have been evoking different possibilities at this stage and I know that this [an arms embargo] is one of the possibilities”.
In a rare joint statement on foreign policy issued on Sunday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy called on all sides in Egypt to show restraint and prevent further escalations of violence. They said the EU would “urgently review” relations with Egypt
The statement warned of unpredictable consequences for the country and for its broader neighborhood amid the ongoing bloodshed.
The EU leaders insisted that it is the responsibility of the Egyptian army and the interim government to end the violence and to embark on political dialogue to swiftly restore democracy, warning the people's calls for fundamental rights "cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood."
They said the EU will remain firmly engaged in efforts to promote an end to violence, resumption of political dialogue and return to a democratic process.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister has reacted angrily to what he called threats from the West and described the current crisis in his countryu as an ''internal affair.''
Nabil Fahmy said that aid money was vital, helping to fund such things as healthcare, “cutting it during this period of crisis would be unacceptable”.
He said that Egypt itself is reviewing its support from the EU. “I want to determine what is useful and what is not and what aid is being used to pressure Egypt and whether this aid has good intentions and credibility.”
“We are not looking to replace one friend with another but we will look out to the world and continue to establish relations with other countries so we have options.”