In his first visit to Egypt after the January 25 revolt, Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was keen this week not to repeat “a mistake” made by most Western officials: he met members of the Brotherhood. "I came to Egypt to meet and listen to different voices in the Egyptian uprising and I can't exclude one party," said Stoere, who warned against the double standards of the West which calls for democracy while ignoring one party in the democratic process. Stoere, who thinks that the West was mistaken to think about the opposition group as radical or a ter- rorist party, a concept that was nourished by the ex-regime, visited Egypt from February 28 to March 2. He conferred with representatives of a whole range of authorities, opposition parties, political youth groups and key analysts. "I came to assess the changes, the aspirations and the obstacles, and to find out what Norway can do to help in this transitional period to democracy," explained Stoere on Tuesday, who was accompanied by a delegation from Norwegian civil society. For Norway, a secular country that separates religion from the state, a religious country is something strange. "But we must realise that Egypt is Egypt and Norway is Norway, and that what is suitable for one country is not necessarily right for another country," stressed Stoere, who believes that, in spite the tremendous results of the Egyptian uprising so far, the hardest part is yet to come. Stoere feels optimistic, though. "Such tension can be found in my country too," he said, adding that only Egypt can decide its future and it's up to Egyptians to see what contributions other countries can offer them. As for foreign investments, Stoere argued at a press conference in Cairo that Egypt is a country with great investment potential, "but firstly it should make itself an investment-friendly country". He also said that a tangible effort should be made to fight corruption, which is one of the biggest rea- sons why businessmen refrain from investing in the country. "It [corruption] is a cancer." Although he refuses to call it a revolution, he sees that what has come out of the Egyptian upris- ing is a strong message about human rights, self- determination and universal principles that normally lead to peace and not to conflict.
