Germany complains of lack of 'democratic evolution' in Egypt

German officials have said they cancelled an upcoming visit to Berlin by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi because there is “no democratic evolution” in the country.

Sisi had been scheduled to visit Germany to discuss the latest developments in the region.

However, the head of Germany’s parliament, Norbert Lammert, sent a letter last week to the Egyptian ambassador in Berlin, Mohammed Hegazy, cancelling the planned meeting.

"The recent developments in Egypt have shown clearly that there is no democratic evolution in the political sphere," Lammert later told the Turkish Anadolu Agency, "and so there was no topic left for me to discuss with al-Sisi."

Egyptian and international diplomats told Arabic news site al-Araby al-Jadeed that the visit had been cancelled due to an “extremely poor impression” that the German delegation got of President Sisi during a recent visit to Cairo.

According to the sources, who asked to remain anonymous, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier held two unannounced meetings before meeting President Sisi.

The first was with local activists who rose to prominence during the 2011 revolution against President Hosni Mubarak, while the second was with leaders of several Egyptian political parties.

In the wake of the diplomatic row, Egyptian officials have denied requesting a meeting in Berlin.

“The Egyptian side did not ask for nor look forward to a meeting between the two officials,” Ambassador Hegazy told state-owned daily al-Ahram.

In his comments to Anadolu, the head of the German parliament acknowledged that Egypt has a right to make “domestic decisions,” but stressed that “tolerating violations of human rights for the purpose of stability” jeopardises the diplomatic relations between Cairo and Berlin.