In President Mursī’s first official state visit to Germany, he and Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed critical and thorny issues with a particular focus on the tense political situation in Egypt today.

German state department officials have stated that grants and aid are conditional on economic reforms. There exists a great concern for and disappointment with the political developments since the Revolution, in particular since the Brotherhood’s rise to power. Chancellor Merkel expressed Berlin’s fear of a decline in public freedom and freedom of the press, women and Copts since the Muslim Brotherhood has come to power. [‘Adil al-Sanhūrī, al-Yawm al-Sābi', Jan. 31, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic