Nicosia to host Cyprus-Greece-Egypt summit

Nicosia will host the 8th Cyprus-Greece-Egypt Trilateral Summit on 21 October where Turkey’s renewed illegal activity in the eastern Mediterranean will be on the agenda.

A government statement on Friday said among the issues to be discussed during the Summit are the Cyprus problem, the illegal activities of Turkey in opening fenced-off Varosha and the tense situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Summit seeks to deepen regional cooperation with neighbouring countries focusing on the cooperation in the fields of energy, migration, combating terrorism, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Summit will adopt a Joint Declaration on the three countries common positions, challenges and policies.

Egypt, Greece and Cyprus have built a political alliance on their energy cooperation forming partnerships with Israel and others to buffer Turkey’s influence in the region

The three helped create the East Med Gas Forum officially founded in January 2019, when the seven founding members agreed to form a committee to elevate the forum to the level of an international organisation.

Guaranteeing the optimum use of gas in the region had long been an Egyptian goal with Cairo keen to boost its relations with Greece and Cyprus to establish an energy hub.

An electricity energy connector is also being built to connect Egypt, Greece and Cyprus with the rest of Europe.

The trilateral summits are the vehicle of cooperation in regional diplomacy.