LOC15:11
12:11 GMT
BRUSSELS, July 9 (KUNA) -- The Foreign Minister of Lithuania, Linas Antanas
Linkevicius, whose country holds the current EU Presidency, Tuesday said that
one cannot legitimize democratically elected governments being toppled by
military coup.
"On Egypt, I still believe that the democratically elected government can
not be removed by military force," he told the European Parliament while
presenting the priorities of his country's six-month EU Presidency.
"You can like it, you can dislike it but it is my position I would like to
share with you. It is not the fact we should be proud about, try to explain or
legitimaze or to set a precedent," he added.
Linkevicius was replying to a question posed by a Member of the European
Parliament on Egypt during the debate.
Meanwhile, Michael Mann, spokesperson of EU High Representative Catherine
Ashton, declined to comment on remarks made by the Lithuanian foreign minister
on Egypt.
"It is not for me to react to remarks of other officials," he told a
separate news conference. Mann has declined to describe the events in Egypt as
a "military coup." (end)
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