The European Union urged the Egyptian authorities to take more decisive steps to meet the protesters` demands after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced his intention to stay in power until September in his address to the nation late on Thursday.

During his speech, Mubarak, who was widely expected to announce his resignation, said he was handing over powers to the newly appointed prime minister, Omar Suleiman, but refused to step down as the protesters have demanded.

"The demands and expectations of the Egyptian people must be met. It is for them to judge whether the steps announced by President Mubarak fulfill their expectations and aspirations," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement. "President Mubarak has not yet opened the way to faster and deeper reforms. We will pay close attention to the response by the Egyptian people in the coming hours and days."

Hundreds of thousands of protesters on Cairo`s central Tahrir Square have denounced Mubarak`s speech, chanting slogans demanding the president to step down and calling for more protests on Friday.

Ashton said the European Union "salutes the courage of the Egyptian people who have pursued their campaign for democratic change peacefully and with dignity."

"Violence can never be accepted. As I have always said, peaceful but real and lasting transformation delivering deep democracy is what is now required," she said.

Ashton also urged the Egyptian authorities to lift the state of emergency which has been in place since Mubarak came to power in 1981, saying that this "step forward must be implemented as soon as possible."
sections: Politics, World News