Weeks after the young Italian researcher Giulio Regeni was found dead in Egypt, the European Parliament has added its voice to those already calling for truth and justice.

After a month and a half of silence, the European Parliament on March 10 finally passed a non-binding resolution on the death of Giulio Regeni. Until this action, the behavior of European governments has been strongly questionable - with some of them blatantly turning a blind eye on Egypt's human rights abuses.

The new resolution finally puts strong and much-need pressure on Egyptian authorities: if Egypt keeps avoiding any cooperation with Italian authorities, the consequences could be very serious. The European Union is indeed the country's top trade partner, as well as a fundamental partner in security and military issues.

Truth & justice for Giulio

The resolution seems to have made an immediate impact: Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has finally - more than a month since the event - declared his desire to see his country and Italy cooperate on the inquiry into Regeni's death.

President al-Sisi did not mention even once the broader issues concerning the state of human rights in Egypt and, while he agreed to consider that Giulio Regeni had been tortured by professionals, he did not question further the involvement of Egyptian authorities.

The investigation being carried out is still far from bringing truth about what happened. Many false leads have been brought forward by the Egyptian authorities, but the most credible explanation remains that it was a politically motivated murder.

It is crucial to ensure effective cooperation between Egyptian and Italian authorities, as well as to take into due account the broader context of human rights violations and abuses taking place in Egypt. How can the European Union be credible in its statements on the defense of human rights if we once again close our eyes on an obvious case of abduction, torture and murder?