EU, Arab leaders draw lines in the sand

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the easy part.

Leaders gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt for the first-ever summit between the EU and the League of Arab States faced uncomfortable differences, including a push for marriage equality by two of Europe’s openly gay heads of government — Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg and Leo Varadkar of Ireland — and an impassioned defense of authoritarianism and capital punishment by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

It was not exactly a meeting of the minds.

The intervention by Bettel and Varadkar was made behind closed doors, but el-Sisi’s soliloquy in favor of strong-arm justice — perhaps unsurprising from a man who seized power in a military coup — came at the end of a very public closing news conference, and highlighted the challenges of the two-day event.

Seizing on a question about human rights posed by a German reporter, el-Sisi said that Europeans must understand and respect the different political and cultural realities of the Middle East.

“I just want to explain to you the immensity of the challenge faced by Egypt,” el-Sisi said.

He said that while European nations are focused on prosperity and social welfare, countries like Egypt struggle to avoid the fate of regional neighbors like Syria, which has been destroyed by war and sectarian strife.

“I mean when there are terrorist acts in Belgium or in France or in any other countries, then we are talking about just single terrorist acts,” el-Sisi said. “But Egypt in the past five years, we have been dealing with maybe thousands of terrorist acts. So can you imagine what it takes to counter all of this?”

“You are speaking about capital punishment and yes, we agree [with] this,” el-Sisi continued, adding: “Here when someone is killed or martyred in a terrorist act, the families come to me and ask me to regain the rights of their children and this is what we do here, but we do it through the law.

“If I ask the European countries to review their stances and to bring back capital punishment, I think this would be a lack of understanding on our part,” he said. “And so the same should apply to you. And here I am speaking very honestly and very confidently. You are not going to teach us about humanity. We are human beings. We have our values. We have our ethics and morals. And you have your ethics. You have your morals. You have your values. We respect yours and you should respect ours.”

His remarks drew thunderous, sustained applause from the Arab journalists in the room — a reaction that highlighted yet another stark cultural divide. And European Council President Donald Tusk could not help but seize on the awkwardness of the situation.

“We appreciate how enthusiastic your media are here in Egypt,” he said, making light but also driving home a point with dry sarcasm. “It’s impossible in Europe to have such a reaction from media,” he said. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” the Egyptian president replied.

In the press room, the European Commission secretary-general, Martin Selmayr, said aloud, “There must be something wrong with us. Something we do wrong.”

There were other signs of the wide gulf in political sensibilities.

EU leaders are accustomed to summits where even leaders of the tiniest member countries like Malta and Lithuania are given full attention by colleagues. King Salman of Saudi Arabia, by contrast, made his remarks at the summit and left the room, not particularly concerned about others’ interventions.

Still, all sides proclaimed the event a success and an important first step in improving diplomatic dialogue between Europe and the Arab nations. One senior EU official said: “Useful for Europe. Not easy, but necessary.”

In all, 49 countries participated, with 24 of the EU’s 28 heads of state and government in attendance. (Brexit briefly threatened to overshadow the proceedings as European journalists repeatedly quizzed the EU leaders and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on the latest state-of-play, but officials quickly returned to the official agenda with the help of the Arab press.)

A joint summit declaration issued on Monday gave leaders a platform to proclaim areas of agreement and common cause, particularly on aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which a number of Arab leaders cited as the region’s top concern.

“We reaffirmed our common positions on the Middle East Peace Process, including on the status of Jerusalem, and on the illegality under international law of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the leaders said in the declaration. “We reiterated our commitment to reaching a two-state solution on the basis of all relevant U.N. resolutions, as the only realistic way to end the occupation that began in 1967, including of East Jerusalem, and to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians through direct negotiations between the parties that addresses all final status issues.”

They also stressed the need to uphold the historic status quo for holy sites in Jerusalem, to address the humanitarian, economic and other challenges in Gaza, and to seek “reconciliation and sustainable and peaceful political solutions” in Syria, Libya and Yemen.

Tusk, in his prepared remarks at the closing news conference, said: “It is time to get real about partnership between the Arab world and Europe. We are confronted by many of the same challenges, in a geopolitical context that has become even more dangerous and unstable. Challenges such as dealing with international security crises and terrorism, fighting climate change and mass population displacement or ensuring sustainable growth and investment in an uncertain global economy. As close neighbors, we have no alternative but to work together on these and other issues.”

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spoke about improving trade ties between Europe and the Middle East, as well as about strong links through educational programs, until he was interrupted by a call on his cell phone.

“My phone is ringing, I apologize,” he said, offering evidence that some cultural experiences are now nearly universal. “It was the usual suspect, it was my wife, so I had to answer the phone,” he said, adding: “I have to conclude now otherwise she won’t stop calling me.”

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