Denmark Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen Calls On Egypt's Mubarak To Resign

BRUSSELS — Denmark's prime minister became the first European Union leader to publicly urge embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down, just hours after Mubarak vowed to remain in power despite pro-democracy protests.

"Mubarak is history, Mubarak must step down," Lars Loekke Rasmussen said Friday in Copenhagen.

"Mubarak made a huge blunder yesterday," he said, referring to the Egyptian leader's speech late Thursday in which he announced plans to transfer some powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman and promised presidential elections later this year.

It was not immediately clear whether Loekke Rasmussen's comments were a sign of a shift in EU policy toward the upheaval in Egypt. In the past two weeks, the 27-nation union has closely tracked the Obama administration's approach of appealing to Mubarak to implement fundamental changes demanded by the demonstrators, but without calling on him to resign.

The EU has been increasingly concerned about events in Egypt, with officials worrying that events may spin out of control unless Mubarak gives in to protesters' demands.

The European Union has had close relations with Mubarak's regime, despite his iron-fisted rule, as part of its partnerships with other Mediterranean nations. But since the protests started, it has been trying to distance itself from the 82-year-old strongman without damaging its diplomatic and economic ties with Egypt.

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Mubarak's defiant speech had "not yet opened the way to faster and deeper reforms."

"An orderly and irreversible transition towards democracy and free and fair elections is the shared objective of both the EU and the Egyptian people," Ashton said in a statement. "The lifting of the state of emergency ... must be implemented as soon as possible."

EU Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said "a new government including all democratic forces is crucial for this transition."

Ashton's repeated efforts to visit Cairo to help defuse the standoff between the regime and protesters have been stymied by Egyptian authorities. Egypt's foreign minister has responded by saying he would prefer not to have any foreign visitors this month, Ashton's spokeswoman said.

In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Friday that the disappointment of the Egyptian protesters in response to Mubarak's speech was "understandable."

"Mubarak's announcements are not going far enough to satisfy the people," Steffen Seibert said, adding that the people on Tahrir Square are protesting for ideals "that are also our ideals."

___

Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

Comments

[Pole]

06:32 PM on 02/12/2011

Social/political situations tend to follow certain patterns. Freedom tends to lead to anarchy, unless regulated by transparent forces. Stability tends to lead to oppression, unless modulated by justice. Can Freedom and Stability coexist? Yes, if corruption is systematically uncovered by transparency. Put faces to these situations and you have people and governments. Political leaders have a terrible itch to line their own pockets with security and thus feel compelled to promote both deceit and cruelty, two of the leading warnings spoken of by the Hebrew prophets. Self interest, the bulwark of Capitalism, replaces national and humanitarian interests. That is where Democratic Socialism, anathema to wealthy politicians, trumps our present economy. There is a formula for raising up the poor and providing them with jobs to feed their families, shelter their bodies and give them opportunity to form healthy communities of satisfied citizens. But it comes at a price called transparent selflessness. That takes a measure of idealism in the face of inappropriate advantage. All despots die outside their palaces. Some hunted down and killed (an eye for an eye). Some manage to find sanctuary in a friendly port that recognizes their stolen wealth. The cry of freedom must be heard and the universe respond. Sacrifice is rewarded by change. Rationalized greed (I did it to protect my country) always loses in the final analysis. Despots lose. People win. Hopes survive to fight another day. Its been a drama played out since the earliest Greek plays. God bless Egypt.

[IWantAUsername]

08:12 PM on 02/11/2011

Honesty being deserving of praise is depressing.

[Baphemetis]

06:06 PM on 02/11/2011

The old danish way: Keeping up lies only makes you sick and worry, trying to keep others down by deceit will bring you down yourself sooner or later - the common interest is in everybodys favor - to understand that deed is bigger than our desire and our megalomania, to understand that we are really all just common folks but be tolerant of others to aspire and inspire.

The new danish way: Pretending to be an old school danish...

[Vetinari]

12:10 PM on 02/11/2011

Being discrete have never been a virtue of the Danes...

[happyrabbitfish]

11:38 AM on 02/11/2011

I live in Denmark, flæskesteg.
Anyways, I like Lars, though he is pretty conservative.

[Stilts9]

11:38 AM on 02/11/2011

Wow, a western leader with some guts. Surprising.

[TedCollins]

11:35 AM on 02/11/2011

Lars Loekke Rasmussen must be a pretty persuasive guy. Less than 24 hours.

I think he should take credit the same way the tea-baggers take credit for Regan saying "take down that wall."

[Candid One]

11:39 AM on 02/11/2011

Not enough info and too soon to know whether Denmark is merely the tip of a behind-the-scenes iceberg of Eurozone chill that disclosed itself to Mubarak.

[manumoka]

11:32 AM on 02/11/2011

Denmark once again leads the world in fearlessness.

[justitia]

11:24 AM on 02/11/2011

As for the US, it's stake in Egypt is much greater than Denmark's so we can't expect from Obama the same straightforward position as PM Rasmussen's. Obama himself is in a position where he can't express an opinion he would have if he was a private citizen. The office of the President is an institution by itself and you can hang on to it only if you satisfy the most powerful interests that make access to it possible. The military-industrial complex has much stake in Egypt, for example. The Zionist lobby (I don't call it the 'Jewish' lobby as not all Jews are Zionists, and anti-Zionism is not the same as anti-Semitism) too as it wants to keep the status quo in Israel/Palestine where the Palestinians are being driven from their homes to build purely Zionist communities in their place. Actually, it's not the Israeli government that has a hold on Washington, it's the Zionist lobby right here in the US. Israel knows that. Mubarak also knows that and that's the card he's playing. Obama's present position on Egypt that appears muddled and lukewarm to progressives is already receiving a lot of flak from the interests I already mentioned. I don't think he'll go further than he has. But though his position does matter in terms of quickly resolving the crisis, the decision ultimately belongs to the people of Egypt.

[MontanaBanana]

11:34 AM on 02/11/2011

Fanned!

[vu jade]

11:23 AM on 02/11/2011

At one time we led in foreign policy, now we have to follow Denmark. Good job Obama!

[MontanaBanana]

11:33 AM on 02/11/2011

Wrong! Apparently you haven't been following the news regarding the messages Obama has been sending. You'd be complaining if he had stepped in and forced Mubarak down. Instead, Obama took baby steps and got the goal he wanted. But, I'm a proud Dane so glad Rasmussen had the guts to ask for Mubarak to resign.

[vu jade]

11:43 AM on 02/11/2011

Obviously your dog like devotion to Obama has blinded you to the facts.

[mjc]

06:36 PM on 02/11/2011

The "baby steps" you mention are ones that warned of too much of a transition too soon and supported Mubarak staying in power until at least the elections in Sept. Yes events have forced him to a different posture but it is the same Obama we have known for too long. Caution, not too much controversy, don't upset the conservatives and don't go against Israel's policies. Sorry, Obama is such a total disappointment to me and many.

[lightningbolt]

11:21 AM on 02/11/2011

Somebody had to say it.

[jaredbrain]

11:19 AM on 02/11/2011

Dear World,

I guess I'll say it if you won't.

Sincerely Denmark

[manumoka]

11:33 AM on 02/11/2011

Well said. The Danish simple honesty is refreshing.

[justitia]

11:19 AM on 02/11/2011

We should welcome this development. However, credit is due to the people of Egypt for making it happen. As someone has already pointed out, the uprising in Egypt has exposed the West's opportunism. Indeed, I hope people of other countries dominated by the West are also taking the cue from Egypt and other countries were people have asserted their rights. For now, any development, no matter if it smacks of opportunism, is welcome as long as it enhances the chance of the people of Egypt to get what they want, which is a democratic government that is genuinely politically pluralistic..

[mjc]

06:40 PM on 02/11/2011

The Egyptians went far beyond what the "west" and particularly the United States expected. They had more faith in a democratic outcome than any in our government. Hundreds of thousands crammed into that Square, peacefully, non-violently except for the 48 hours of violence against them by the pro-Mubarak forces, that would never happen in most countries, including the US.

[The Strangler]

11:15 AM on 02/11/2011

Boy, is this guy a little late to the party or what? Sorry, Lars, but Hosni just peaced out. Ah, but that's just Lars being Lars, innit?

[miloiki]

11:49 AM on 02/11/2011

He said it before Mubarak stepped down. You are a little late to the party.

[The Strangler]

01:17 PM on 02/11/2011

No, he did not! He made those comments today, all the while Mubarak was gone. Before you come to my party, do your homework. I P'wn the Huffpo community! Ahhhhhhh!