European Union leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso warned Egypt’s army and interim government Sunday the bloc would review its ties with the country unless the violence ended.
Further escalation could have “unpredictable consequences” for Egypt and its neighbours, the presidents of the European Council and European Commission said.
The 28-nation bloc would continue efforts to promote an end to violence, resumption of political dialogue, and return to a democratic process, the statement added.
Senior diplomats from the 28 EU nations will Monday hold emergency talks on Egypt in Brussels in which they are expected to call for a snap meeting of foreign ministers within the next days.
The EU has pledged nearly five billion euros in loans and grants for Egypt for 2012-2013 and said shortly after the July 3 ouster of president Mohamed Morsi that aid provisions would be “under constant review” as the situation evolved.
They regretted that international efforts and proposals for building bridges were set aside and confrontation chosen instead, and said there was no alternative to dialogue.
The leaders of Germany and France, President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel, last week raised the spectre of the EU rethinking its cooperation with Egyptian authorities and called for a swift meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.
The next scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers is in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on September 6 and 7.
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