By Iqbal Tamimi

Over 400 people
gathered yesterday 6^th June, 2012 at the Swedish Embassy in Cairo to
celebrate the Swedish National Day, an annual event organized by the embassy to
share with Egyptians this day of pride symbolizing Sweden’s traditions of supporting
democracy and promoting an international respect of other nations’ cultures.

{jcomments on}

Among many respected
guests who participated in this event was Dr. Hisham Kandil, Minister of Water
Resources and Irrigation; Dr. Abdel Kawy Khalifa, Governor of Cairo; Dr.
Mahmoud Azzab, Counsellor of the Imam of Al-Azhar.

During her opening speech, Swedish Ambassador,
Malin Karre, saluted the young and brave generation of Egyptians who started the
process of political transformation in Egypt: “As we stand here on this day
the Egyptian political transition is moving forward almost hour by hour. The
road is bumpy. There are backlashes.  But
there is still some way to reach the ultimate goal, a civil democratic Egypt
with full respect for human rights” she said.

Commenting on the Presidential elections, Swedish
Ambassador said: “A new Egyptian president
has to be an inclusive president for all Egyptians, irrespective of them being
men or women, young or old, Muslim or Christian, poor or rich, urban or rural.
The Egyptian people can never go back to the state of fear that was their fate
for so many years.”

The Swedish National Day was organized in
collaboration with a number of Swedish companies, such as: Electrolux/Olympic
Group, Ericsson, Gambro, Oriflame, Skanska, Swedish Group, Swegypt, Tetra Pak
and Volvo.

Share this post