CAIRO - During her visit to Egypt, EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said that she had come with the hopes of the European Union that Egypt can successfully pass through the transitional phase into democracy and achieve the noble aims of the Egyptian revolution. "The EU stands ready to support the democratic transition and I intend to discuss in Cairo how the EU can best assist Egypt," she stressed. Ashton added after a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq that the EU would support the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is offering 488 million euros towards infrastructure projects and investments in Egypt. She also said that the EU would help the bank offer more aid to Egypt, if it so wishes. Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini yesterday carried a message from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawy, stressing that Italy wants to maintain its position as Egypt's biggest European trade partner. Frattini told Tantawy that his country was now ready to negotiate the third phase of dept swap, in which 120 million euros of Egyptian debts will be turned into grants for development projects here. The Italian Foreign Minister referred to the agreement of the EIB to allocate 6 billion euros for developing the Southern Mediterranean region, as the first step for launching a Mediterranean pact and developing the region, in order to create more opportunities for future generations. Frattini added that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is also ready to contribute about 1 billion euros to support the Southern Mediterranean countries. According to him, Italy has now stopped warning its nationals against coming to Egypt. He expressed his hopes that other European countries will follow suit soon. "I also hope to help Egypt grow closer to the European Union, giving it a status that a country like Morocco enjoys,” he told reporters in Cairo. In his meeting with Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa, Frattini agreed with what Moussa described as a roadmap for democratic transition in Egypt, stressing that no-one can interfere in the Egyptians' choices for democratic transition. William J. Burns, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, also expressed Washington's support to the post-Mubarak Egypt. "We'll continue to encourage concrete steps to build confidence and to sustain the momentum of the transition, including the constitutional amendments that are being considered, careful preparations for elections, the release of more political detainees and the lifting of the Emergency Law," Burns said at the Arab League. Meanwhile, sources at Cairo Airport said that a high-level Israeli official visited Egypt and met with some Egyptian officials, in order to discuss the recent developments in Egypt. There were no further details. Meanwhile, a Swedish diplomatic source said that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, now in Cairo, will meet with Shafiq Wednesday to discuss how Sweden and the EU can help Egypt in this transitional phase.
