Europe 'should have backed democrats not dictators,' commissioner says

EU commissioner Stefan Fuele has offered an unprecedented mea culpa for Europe's history of support for dictators across north Africa.

Criticising what he called the view of a "rather offensive 'Arab exception' towards democracy", he told MEPs in Brussels on Monday (28 February): "We must show humility about the past. Europe was not vocal enough in defending human rights and local democratic forces in the region."

"Too many of us fell prey to the assumption that authoritarian regi...