Ashraf AboArafe
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated that, at the direction of Mr. Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ehab Nasr, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, summoned this morning, July 25, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chargé d’Affairs of the Swedish Embassy in Cairo, where he was informed of Egypt’s strong condemnation and complete rejection – government and people – of the unfortunate and repeated incidents of burning and abuse of copies of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Ambassador Ihab Nasr stressed during the meeting that Egypt had previously warned of the dangerous and negative repercussions of the repetition of these rejected events, and what it leads to in terms of the growth of Islamophobia, provoking hate speech and extremism, and encouraging destructive endeavors and ideas seeking to destroy the bonds of civilized communication between the peoples and societies of the world.
In this regard, the Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs affirmed the firm Egyptian position rejecting manifestations of contempt for all religions or offending their adherents, as they do not in any way represent a manifestation of the right to freedom of expression, which requires not offending the beliefs of others or desecrating their sanctities, as expressed by the relevant statements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the latest of which was the statement issued on July 21, 2023, as evidenced by the current negative repercussions resulting from these unfortunate incidents.
Ambassador Abu Zeid revealed that the Assistant Foreign Minister stressed during the interview the need for the Swedish authorities, and other countries that witnessed similar incidents, to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such unfortunate incidents and hold the perpetrators accountable, in an effort to preserve the culture of tolerance and the principles of peaceful coexistence, dialogue and acceptance of the other, which contributes to strengthening friendly and civilized relations between the peoples and countries of the world.
