On the 23rd of February, the Egyptian Red sea city of Sharm El Sheikh hosted the first European- Arab League summit. The two-day summit covered topics like, security, counter-terrorism, and socio economic cooperation. It took place a mere three days, after Egypt carried out a mass execution of 9 men, on the 20th of February, convicted of the murder of the Attorney General, Hesham Barakat, in a bomb attack on the 29th of June 2015. The integrity of the convictions had come under scrutiny, after allegations were made by the defendants that their confessions were obtained under torture.
In spite of criticism and calls by human right groups, the Egyptian government carried out the executions. President Sissi, stating that the use of executions was acceptable in the Middle East due to “cultural” reasons, defended the mass execution of the nine men.
The summit and the executions that preceded it, is illustrative of current European policy towards the Egyptian regime, where concerns related to curbing the refugee flow, and counter-terrorism trump human rights violations and repression of the local population. This policy has manifested itself in increased levels of security and surveillance cooperation, arms sales to the Egyptian navy to curb the migrant flow, and the launch of formal talks for an increased Egyptian role in combating the refugee flow in exchange for economic incentives.
