“I am totally against any interference in our internal affairs. No one apart from an Egyptian has the right to judge the system in Egypt,” Amani Hussein, currently working on a PhD in Germany, told Al-Ahram Weekly this week in a comment on President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi's forthcoming trip to Germany and Egyptian-German relations. The visit, scheduled for 3-4 June, will see Al-Sisi meet the German president and chancellor, along with a number of politicians, parliamentarians, journalists, intellectuals and the leaders of major German banks, financial institutions and companies. The visit has raised controversy following negative remarks made by the speaker of the German parliament, or Bundestag, Norbert Lammert. Egypt has downplayed the significance of Lammert's remarks, but there have been voices calling for the cancellation or postponement of the trip as a result. Ahmed Adel, who has been working in Germany for more than 10 years, believes that the visit should be postponed until there is an official apology for Lammert's statement. “The president is representing Egypt. He should take a firm stand until Germany issues an apology for the statement,” he said. However, according to one diplomat spoken to by the Weekly who spoke on condition of anonymity, relations between states are governed by interests. It is in the interest of both Germany and Egypt to have good relations and to ignore matters that could mar them. “Egypt's present foreign policy aims to establish good relations with all countries. We should not react strongly as a result, but instead should explain our situation clearly, especially since we have seen positive signs from other officials,” he said. A spokesperson at the Federal Press Office in Berlin said there had been no changes to German chancellor Angela Merkel's invitation to Al-Sisi to visit Germany. A statement from the German Foreign Ministry said “Berlin has great interest in the completion of the Egyptian president's visit to Germany.” Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Badr Abdel-Atti said Egypt sees Germany as a major partner in Europe. Good relations between the two countries were essential in achieving security and stability through the regional and international fight against terrorism, he said. Addressing one of Lammert's concerns, Abdel-Atti stressed Egypt's full commitment to holding parliamentary elections soon. Lammert had criticised the current political situation in Egypt in a statement issued by the German parliament last week. “Despite expectations from Egypt to schedule a date for the long-awaited parliamentary elections, what we have been witnessing in recent months is the systematic persecution of opposition groups, mass arrests, convictions to lengthy prison terms and an incredible number of death sentences, which include former parliamentary speaker [Saad] Al-Katatni,” Lammert said. He cancelled his meeting with Al-Sisi, citing the human rights situation in Egypt. But the Foreign Ministry in Cairo said Al-Sisi had not planned to meet Lammert and the meeting had been added to the agenda by Germany. Egypt's ambassador to Germany Mohamed Hegazi stated that “the Egyptian side [of Al-Sisi's visit] did not request or seek a meeting for the president with Lammert. It was the German side that included the meeting on the programme prepared for the visit.” German ambassador to Cairo Hansjörg Haber held a meeting with a group of journalists last week, in which he highlighted points that Al-Sisi will be asked to clarify during his visit, namely the Egyptian government's methods of dealing with terrorism as well as the matter of executions. “President Al-Sisi will have a tough job convincing the German officials and public that in its fight against terrorism Egypt is trying not to encroach on freedoms and human rights and that the judiciary is not politicised. The success of the visit depends to a great extent on Al-Sisi's explanation of these issues,” the diplomat said. Germany adopted a rather hostile stand against Egypt after the 30 June Revolution and the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi. However, Egypt is keen to normalise its relations with an important European state like Germany, and Germany wants to keep good relations with Egypt because Cairo can play a pivotal role in resolving important issues in the Middle East, especially in Libya and Yemen. German chancellor Angela Merkel and her government have consistently indicated their keenness on a close political relationship with Egypt. Merkel met Al-Sisi during March's Egypt Economic Development Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh and invited him to visit Germany in June. In May, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Cairo and met his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukri to discuss bilateral relations as well as preparations for the president's visit. The German official affirmed his government's view that the political crisis across the Middle East required Egypt to play a full regional and international role. Shoukri and Steinmeier discussed the final preparations for the visit in a telephone conversation last week. During his visit, Al-Sisi will witness the signing of a number of important contracts in energy, housing, infrastructure, and education and will participate in the closing session of the Egyptian-German Economic Forum.
