UK cancels military cooperation with Egypt, Germany may follow

The United Kingdom has suspended its military cooperation with Egypt, and canceled several weapons agreements as a punitive measure against deadly state crackdowns on Muslim Brotherhood protesters, reported the state-run Middle East News Agency on Monday.

In statements to the BBC, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague asserted that while the UK has taken a strong stance on recent events, these measures were not permanent and would be revised as the situation progressed.

Britain’s influence on Egypt in the coming years would be limited as it is a politically independent state, and the UK would continue to support dialog and democracy in Egypt, Hague continued.

Also on Monday, Germany announced plans to revise its military cooperation with Egypt in the midst of increasingly deadly violence sweeping across the country, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.

Germany had previously announced that it would reconsider its 25 million euros worth of developmental aid to the country.

Foreign nations began issuing statements of condemnation and adopting punitive measures against Egypt last week, when two major sit-ins demanding former President Mohamed Morsi’s reinstatement were violently dispersed by state security forces. As of Thursday night, at least 638 had been killed in the events, according to the Health Ministry. Since then, the death toll has continued to rise as Brotherhood supporters, civilians, and police and army forces have clashed across the country.

On Thursday, the United States canceled its joint Bright Star military training with Egypt, and Denmark suspended its developmental aid to the country. The European Union announced in a statement on Sunday that it would review its relationship with Egypt.