EU ready to help Egypt build a deep rooted democracy

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union stands ready to help Egypt build a deep rooted democracy, the 27-nation bloc's foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday.

Ashton said she had spoken to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit earlier in the day about Europe's role in the events unfolding in his country.

"I reiterated that no matter what happens in the next hours and days, the European Union stands ready to help build the deep democracy that will underpin stability for the people of Egypt," she said in a statement.

The EU will be ready with "a package of measures" to help and support the transition she told the minister.

Ashton said she had also repeated her wish to travel to Egypt as soon as possible "as mandated by the leaders of the European Union" at a summit of the 27 nations last week.

EU officials earlier Thursday had tried to persuade Egypt to authorise a visit next week by Ashton after it emerged the previous day that President Hosni Mubarak's administration had refused her entry.

"We are still working in order that Mrs Ashton... gets into Egypt next week," her spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told journalists

A refusal to allow Ashton to visit would amount to rejecting "the EU as a whole," the official insisted.

Ashton has said she will visit Tunisia on Monday, a month on from the toppling of its authoritarian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and wanted to go from there to Egypt as well as other countries in the region.

While preparations for Tunis are "well on track," Kocijancic said, for Egypt, they were "ongoing... we are working on all levels for this visit to happen."

While recognising agreement was required from the Egyptian authorities, she said the EU would announce on Friday Ashton's programme.

Ashton, just back from New York, told the UN Security Council this week that Europe believed that across the Middle East "the democratic aspirations of citizens must be met through dialogue, genuine political reform, and free and fair elections."

The EU was both ready to help prepare elections and "also to fight corruption, make local administration more transparent, ensure independent media and make the justice system fully independent."