BRUSSELS: EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton will fly to Egypt for talks next week, becoming the most senior foreign diplomat to visit since Hosni Mubarak's resignation. "She will be in Cairo for talks next Tuesday," her spokesman said on Wednesday, adding that she would have talks with a range of officials. Ashton responded to Mubarak's resignation as Egyptian president on Friday by calling for accelerated dialogue to bring about a broad-based government that would both respect popular aspirations and deliver stability. She said the European Union supported the holding of free and fair elections and was ready to help the country in any way it could. The EU has been scrambling to reevaluate its policies in response to the unrest that brought down authoritarian governments in Tunisia and Egypt that Europe and the United States had supported. While the European Union has expressed support for democratic change in the region, the unrest has raised concerns about Islamist radicalization and the possibility of new waves of unwanted migrants seeking to reach Europe. On Tuesday, Ashton said she would be seeking at least € 2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) of extra funding to help support reforms in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries in North Africa. Ashton suggested extra funding could include at least € 1 billion a year from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to "underpin transition in Egypt." Ambassadors from the 27 EU members have asked EU working groups and heads of mission in Egypt to look into a request by Egypt for European Union states to freeze the assets of former officials suspected of moving funds abroad. EU diplomats said details were unlikely to be complete in time for approval at a meeting of EU foreign ministers that will discuss Egypt next Monday.
