Does the EU think 40 Egyptian lives are worth less than one Ukrainian life?▻http://platformlondon.org/2014/02/20/does-the-eu-consider-than-40-egyptian-lives-are-worth-less-than-one-
Western governments threatened sanctions and the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, announced a halt to activities in Ukraine, “I think it would be completely the wrong signal to appear as being the ones who do business as usual in Ukraine while the people on the streets of Kiev, by whom and whyever, are being slaughtered.” The sentiment seem solid – the state crackdown in Ukraine has escalated horribly.
Yet it’s tempting to wonder how much EU geopolitical interests contributed to the rapid decision-making, rather than just the violence in the streets.
Not least given that EIB President Hoyer has no problem conducting “business as usual” in Egypt, where over 1,300 have been slaughtered – “by whom and whyever” – since July. Close to 1,000 were killed on a single day in August. Since then, there have been repeated massacres by state forces. On the third anniversary of the revolution, police attacked those marking the anniversary, killing at least 64 and hounding protestors through the streets. The jails are full with thousands of prisoners, with intense torture becoming routine. The “virginity tests” used to abuse women revolutionaries in 2011 have begun again. Political party members were arrested for displaying “No” signs prior to the constitutional referendum, and schoolchildren imprisoned for making handsigns or carrying the wrong ruler.
What is the EIB’s response to this? Rather than freeze lending, the bank made loans worth €392 million to the Egyptian power, air traffic and banking sector, just since December.