France will not link arms sales to Egypt’s rights record, Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Paris on Monday

Credit: Corbis

French President Emmanuel Macron drew criticism on Monday for saying he would not condition weapons sales to Egypt on Cairo improving its human rights record during a joint press conference with the Egyptian president in Paris. 

French Republican Guard cavalry escorted President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the Elysee Palace, where Mr Macron referred to him as his "friend" during talks about economic and military ties and shared concerns over instability in Libya, the threat of terrorism in Egypt and regional insecurity across the Sahel.

Mr Macron appeared to suggest that these issues take precedence over concerns over a draconian crackdown on dissent in Egypt, where three staff members of a human rights organisation were recently arrested after they met with Western diplomats.

"I will not condition matters of defence and economic cooperation on these disagreements” over human rights, Mr Macron said.

"It is more effective to have a policy of demanding dialogue than a boycott which would only reduce the effectiveness of one our partners in the fight against terrorism," he added.

But even French officials have questioned the red carpet welcome afforded to Mr Sisi, who rights groups accuse of jailing 60,000 political prisoners and presiding over an alarming rise in capital punishment.

"I don’t know what we gain from this visit. It’s business as usual," one French diplomat told Reuters, deploring Mr Macron’s position.

France was the leading arms supplier to Egypt between 2015 and 2019, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, selling Cairo billions in weapons ranging from Mistral-class helicopter carriers to two dozen Rafale fighter jets.

Limiting sales of conventional arms such as these would not impact Cairo’s fight against terrorism, said Timothy Kaldas, a non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. “Rafale fighter jets are not counter-terrorism tools,” he said.

“Too often Western governments have decided to grant Sisi these high profile state visits while repression in Egypt continues and even intensifies,” he said. “Red carpet privilege should go to those who adhere to basic standards of human rights.”