Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Within the framework of the visit of the parliamentary delegation from the Egyptian House of Representatives to Brussels, the capital of the European Union, headed by Representative/ Tarek Radwan, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee in the House of Representatives, with the membership of Representative/ Ayman Abu El-Ela, Undersecretary of the Human Rights Committee, and Representative/ Mohamed Tayseer Matar, Secretary of the Human Rights Committee and Representative/ Mahitab Mohamed Abdel-Hadi, member of the House of Representatives; On the second day in a row, the delegation continued its various meetings with a number of representatives of the European Parliament, the Belgian Parliament and senior officials of the European Union.
The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Brussels organized a number of meetings for the parliamentary delegation on the second day of its visit to Brussels on July 18, 2023, with the participation of the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the European Union and the Kingdom of Belgium, Dr. Badr Abdel-Aty, where the delegation’s meetings included interviews in the European Parliament with each of the deputy Isabel Santos, Member of the European Parliament and Head of the Delegation for Relations between the European Parliament and the Arab Levant Countries, a member of the S&Ds Alliance of Socialists and Democrats; MP "Antonio Lopez Asturiz", a member of the European Parliament and rapporteur on relations with southern neighboring countries in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and affiliated with the European People's Party (EPP); MP Thomas Czofsky, Member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chairman of the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament, affiliated with the European People’s Party (EPP), MP Thierry Mariani, Member of the European Parliament, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, belonging to the “Identity and Democracy” group ID.
On the second day of the visit, the parliamentary delegation also met with a number of senior officials of the European Union, where it met with the Special Representative of the European Union for Human Rights, "Eamon Gilmore", and the Director General of the General Department of Multilateral Relations of the European Union's Foreign Service, "Belen Martinez Carbonell", in addition to Goodbye to the meeting with Representative Georges Dallmann, a member of the Belgian House of Representatives belonging to the Human Democratic Party.
The Egyptian parliamentary delegation, headed by Representative/ Tarek Radwan, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee in the House of Representatives, reviewed, during the various meetings, the developments related to the promotion of human rights conditions in Egypt, starting with the implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy that was launched in September 2022, and passing through the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in April. 2023, which resulted in the release of more than 1,400 people since it was reactivated, leading to the start of the national dialogue sessions in May 2023 and the positive results achieved by the discussion sessions of the national dialogue, in addition to the positive developments in terms of empowering women, youth, the elderly and people with special abilities.
The delegation also touched on the ongoing efforts to support the most vulnerable societal groups by meeting their needs for a decent life and improving the standard of living in a comprehensive manner, including the promotion of economic, social and developmental rights alongside political and civil rights, within the framework of a comprehensive approach to upgrading the human rights system. In this context, MP Tariq Radwan reviewed extensively the efforts exerted to strengthen protection and social care programs, whether through the "Takaful and Karama" program to empower the most vulnerable families through conditional cash support, or the decent life initiative that aims to improve the quality of life in the villages most in need.
For their part, the MEPs, officials of the European Union institutions and the Belgian parliamentarians praised the positive developments witnessed by the human rights system in Egypt, especially in connection with the national strategy for human rights and the national dialogue. They also expressed their appreciation for the important Egyptian role in promoting stability in the region, in addition to appreciating the efforts They also expressed their aspiration to continue engaging with the Egyptian side at all levels to complete addressing issues of common interest.