The Finnish Foreign Ministry is urging Finns to avoid Egypt’s major cities amid an upsurge in violence. The warning does not cover tourist destinations on the Red Sea.
Anu Pulkkinen, the interim chargé d’affaires at the Finnish Embassy in Cairo, told Yle on Wednesday that the security situation in the capital is extremely unstable. Getting around from one part of Cairo to another is difficult due to blockades, she said. As a result, only a handful of embassy staff members made it to work on Wednesday.
Riot police swept in with armoured vehicles, bulldozers and helicopters Wednesday to clear two sprawling encampments of Muslim Brotherhood supporters of ousted President Mohammed Mursi, sparking running street battles elsewhere in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Close to 300 people were reported killed nationwide, many of them in the assaults on the protest vigils.
Pulkkinen says the situation is still developing, as the Muslim Brotherhood has urged its supporters to continue their demonstrations in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt.
Peaceful demonstrations in Hurghada
The embassy in Cairo has not been contacted by any Finns in need of help. It has been contact with Finns in the resort of Hurghada, a popular destination for package tours. According to Pulkkinen, the unrest has not so far been visible in tourist areas except in the form of peaceful demonstrations.
There are now more than 200 Finnish tourists on package tours to Hurghada. Some 300 Finns are known to live in Egypt permanently.
Pulkkinen says that the Finnish Embassy will try to continue normal operations. She adds that it is located in a quiet area, and that so far it has not seemed necessary to close it.
Wednesday’s crackdown by security forces resulted in massive traffic jams and blockades in major cities. Train service was halted throughout the country. However Cairo airport and its transit operations were operating normally.
