Recently arriving in Budapest for a visit with Hungarian government officials, Egyptian President Sissi faces a backlash from the Hungarian press over human rights concerns and former President Morsi's death sentence
On the second visit of his current European tour, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi arrived in Hungary on Thursday for two days of diplomatic meetings. Sissi is supposed to meet with senior Hungarian government officials, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover, in the capital Budapest to discuss diplomatic ties between the two countries.
A day before arriving in Budapest, Sissi concluded a visit to Berlin where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Guack. The meetings took place amid protests from anti- Sissi groups and a meeting withdrawal by President of the German Bundestag Norbert Lammert because of Egypt's current human rights concerns and ousted President Mohammed Morsi's recent death sentence.
Facing a similar backlash, Sissi's visit to Hungary is currently under harsh scrutiny by the Hungarian press for the same human rights and political concerns. A recent article headlined: "Commander coming, in suit. The 60-year-old president brought back civilian-clothed military government," was printed by the center-left Hungarian newspaper Nepzsabadsgad.
"Sissi took over his latest rank from Egypt's first democratically elected president, Morsi, but staged a coup against Muslim Brotherhood members, jailed them and sentenced them to death," it added.
Index, a Hungarian news website, ran a story headlined: "Egypt's pro-coup leader visits Hungary and we grant him title of honorary PhD," as Sissi is expected to be granted an honorary doctorate at the Civil Service University, according to Hungarian local news website Hungarian Ambiance.
Index continued: "Commander Sissi deposed Morsi, suspended Egypt's constitution, jailed his political rivals and killed around 1,000 people in the Rabaa Square massacre in August 2013."
Morsi was overthrown by the military in 2013 following three days of mass protests, headed by Sissi who was Chief in Command of the Egyptian Armed Forces at the time.
