Assistant Foreign Minister Hatem Seif Al-Nasser summoned the ambassadors of 13 European nations in Cairo Thursday to respond to a statement issued Monday about human rights abuses in Egypt. The foreign ministry released a statement detailing Al-Nasser's remarks, which primarily concerned the validity of the 27-member statement released 10 May. According to Al-Nasser, the statement included "a lot of fallacies" and "did not take into account the aspirations of the Egyptian people" in regard to the country's democratic path. Al-Nasser accused European states of wanting to interfere in Egyptian national affairs, and warned that if an attempt to interfere is not "corrected it will do great damage to bilateral relations and cooperation" between the nations and Egypt. "Egypt has national mechanisms to ensure respect for and implementation of the principles human rights and fundamental freedoms," Al-Nasser assured the ambassadors, adding Egypt would welcome their participation if it came in the form of support for Egypt's roadmap. The ministry's statement concluded with praise for the nations that "refused to sign the statement, stressing that this reflects the perception of those countries… [that] are keen on future of relations with Egypt." State-owned Al-Ahram reported that the assistant foreign minister summoned the ambassadors of 19 countries, as opposed to the foreign ministry's official statement which claimed 13 ambassadors were summoned. Al-Ahram listed the countries as France, Germany, Britain, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland. On 10 May, 27 UN nations issued a statement condemning what they view as human rights violations in Egypt. Emphasis was placed on "the restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly" and security forces' "disproportionate use of lethal force" against protesters. Egypt's representative to the United Nations, Walid Mahmoud Abdel Nasser, responded by saying that the newly-ratified constitution solidifies Egypt's "protection of human rights within the framework of respect for rule of law and the independence of the judiciary," and that "authorities in Egypt are convinced of the importance of positive communication with the international system of human rights".
