Background to the sanctions
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and several ministers were forced to resign as the result of widespread popular protests in February 2011. The Egyptian authorities have initiated legal action against several such individuals and those close to them on suspicion of embezzling Egyptian public property. In light of this, the EU decided on 21 March 2011 to introduce targeted sanctions, in the form of the freezing of assets, against individual members of the former government suspected of embezzling public assets and undermining democratic development in the country, and against persons or entities linked to them.
