She called on Egypt's new authorities to "exert every effort so that politically motivated arrests and other forms of harassments do not take place," and to hold fresh elections "in the shortest possible time."
"Sexual violence must be stopped," she emphasized.
The EU "will continue to monitor the situation closely," Ashton said.
The statement signalled that the EU took a step back, as it avoided calling the army takeover as "coup d'etat" on the grounds that there were "adequate" public support behind it.
- Merkel urges Morsi to be released