French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to the Elysee Palace, during which the French leader declared that Paris cannot ignore the challenges Cairo faces in its fight against violent religious fundamentalism and terrorism. He said, “I am aware of the security situation and the context in which President al-Sisi operates. He is not in Paris like we are today, and he has one challenge: the stability of his country, the fight against terrorist groups, the fight against a violent religious fundamentalism, which has shown what it is capable of in Egypt. That is the context he has to preside in and in which his government has to rule. We cannot ignore that,” President Macron declared in a joint Press conference with his Egyptian counterpart.
President Macron also took the opportunity to condemn human rights organizations that have accused him of remaining silent in the face of increasing violations of freedoms by President al-Sisi’s government, declaring that he would not lecture leaders of countries that do not share Western values, as history shows that criticism that led to actions by Western leaders have led to today’s situation in Iraq and Libya, among other countries stricken by chaos. He said, “The second thing is that I believe in the sovereignty of countries and so in the same way that I don’t accept any leader to lecture me on how to govern my country, I do not lecture others. And often, with the best intentions in the world, we managed to create the situations we now know in Iraq, the situation in Libya, giving lectures out of context and belittling political systems that did not share our values, what happened? Anomie, certain deaths and radical violence,” the French President asserted.
The two countries have nurtured closer economic and military ties in recent years and with al-Sisi’s rise to power that relationship has improved with both sides concerned by the political vacuum in Libya and the threat from jihadist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic State, in Egypt. President al-Sisi said, “In Egypt, we are in a highly troubled region. This tension has nearly destroyed the region and converted it to a place that exports terrorism, fundamentalism and chaos across the world. This has an impact on security in our region, but also on the security of Europe, as well as that of the whole world,” he warned. In response to the human rights allegations leveled at him, President al-Sisi further declared that he was keen on establishing a democratic and progressive country and that the Egyptian people would not stand for “any form of disrespect on human rights”.