Egypt’s el-Sisi Welcomes European Union Leaders, but Not Their Scolding on Rights

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, whose government has jailed critics, muzzled the independent press and executed nine prisoners in the past week, has never appreciated lectures on human rights.

Ariana News Agency- 

But the subject seemed to especially irk the authoritarian leader on Monday when, at the end of a major summit meeting with European and Arab leaders, he lashed out at Europeans who dared to question his record.

“You are not going to teach us about humanity,” Mr. el-Sisi told reporters. Europeans and Arabs have a different “sense of humanity, values and ethics,” he continued. “Respect our values and ethics, as we do yours.”

The outburst was a mark of the often awkward embrace between European Union and Arab League leaders in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, at their inaugural summit to broker closer ties on issues like migration and terrorism.

The summit was held in Egypt as a sweetener to Mr. el-Sisi, who European leaders hope will boost their efforts to deter or push back mostly African migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean. But the timing was awkward: Only weeks earlier, Mr. el-Sisi’s supporters in Parliament started a drive to extend his rule until 2034, possibly longer.

And the cloud of Egypt’s dismal rights record hung over the event, driven by accusations that European leaders were enabling Mr. el-Sisi’s repression. Those tensions burst into the open during the summit’s final hours.

In a strongly worded closing speech, Mr. el-Sisi accused prosperous European nations of showing little understanding of the pressures facing Arab countries threatened with conflict. He trenchantly defended his use of the death penalty. When he finished speaking, the hall of mainly Egyptians, including members of the country’s media, burst into applause.

The reception was not unanimous. “I really appreciate how enthusiastic your media are,” the European Council president Donald Tusk said wryly, addressing Mr. el-Sisi, The Associated Press reported. “It’s impossible in Europe to have such a reaction. Congratulations.”

The event, which gathered Arab leaders from across a region rived by conflict and political strife, was never going to be easy for the Europeans in terms of its political optics. The European Union once had an arms-length relationship with authoritarian rulers like Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for almost 30 years before his ouster in 2011.

But worries about terrorism and illegal migration, as well as a desire to make lucrative arms sales, have drawn European leaders closer to authoritarian leaders like Mr. el-Sisi — a stance critics say encourages their excesses at a time when the United States is often silent on rights abuses.

President Emmanuel Macron of France was feted in Cairo on a three-day visit in January. In 2017, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany dined with Mr. el-Sisi beside the pyramids.

“Sometimes you have to dance with whoever’s on the dance floor,” Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said in a speech in Zurich this month. “We don’t always have a choice.”