This is why the EU, and especially small EU states, like Finland, can never be trusted to speak exactly what needs to be said. It does indeed matter who runs the government in a post-Mubarak Egypt, and that every Western government should be sending very clear signals to the Egyptian people that a Muslim Brotherhood regime, regardless of whether they win in a fair election, will not be looked at with the legitimacy that they desire.
Finnish Foreign Minister, Alexander Stubb: “What’s important for the EU, is that the exchange of power in Egypt happens without violence and peacefully, and that it leads to fair and free elections. The EU hasn’t any position on who will be leading Egypt.”
Latter on in the interview, (waiting for the YLE video to come online) Stubb reinforced his thinking on affording legitimacy upon the MB if they happen to be elected, by referring to the West’s reaction to the Hamas being elected back in 2006. He said that (using his fingers as quotation marks) the West needs to accept the results and not dismiss it, if in our view, “the people happen to vote wrong”.
It’s a grossly immature and naive statement, something of which he wouldn’t dare repeat if the subject was the rise of the Nazi (German National Socialists) party in the 1930’s. Yes, I can see it now,
Alexander Stubb: “Oh Hitler’s party won big in the elections, and yes they’re/were a bunch of socialist racial supremacists, and Jew haters, but the German people did speak in large numbers and their wishes had to be respected”.
Now just switch the country with Egypt and the party with the Muslim Brotherhood. My how in 60 years little has changed. KGS
