Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi cut his visit to Berlin short on account of the protests taking place in cities throughout his country, but he was there long enough to receive a stern warning from German chancellor Angel Merkel. Forthcoming aid from Germany, she said, will be contingent on democratic progress in Egypt.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Merkel told Morsi it’s important that “the different political forces can make their contribution, that human rights are adhered to in Egypt and that, of course, religious freedom is enjoyed.” Germany, whose Volksverhetzung laws ban Holocaust denial, was presumably not pleased with the assertion of a senior Morsi aide that the Holocaust is an American fiction.
This takes place as Egypt’s defense minister warns of the country’s collapse, and President Obama, for his part, boasts that “had it not been for the leadership we showed” there, “you might have seen a different outcome there.” The horror!