Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has hailed the importance of the Greece-Cyprus-Egypt trilateral cooperation, based on energy interests, for ensuring stability in the region.
In joint statements with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is paying an official visit to Greece, Mitsotakis said, “the trilateral cooperation is a foundation of peace, stability, and prosperity that Greece, Egypt, and Cyprus are consistently serving”.
He said the Mediterranean could be a sea that unites people, instead of dividing them, through initiatives that create conditions for cooperation and peace.
Mitsotakis said that the agreement between Greece and Egypt for the partial delimitation of maritime zones constitutes a flagship initiative of cooperation to be further expanded.
He said during his meeting with the President of Egypt they discussed the EastMed gas pipeline, to which “any country can participate, on the condition that it abstains from provocations and respects international law.”
El-Sisi said he agreed with Mitsotakis on the need for a just solution to the Cyprus problem, based on international law.
They also agreed on the necessity of finding a political solution in Libya, which will ensure peace and stability in the wider region.
Egypt’s president is on his first visit to Greece since the two countries signed a deal demarcating maritime boundaries between them in the eastern Mediterranean.
In August, Greece and Egypt signed a maritime deal demarcating the two countries’ maritime boundaries and setting out respective exclusive economic zones for the exploitation of resources such as oil and gas drilling.
The agreement angered Turkey, which has accused Greece of trying to grab an unfair share of resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
Tension has been high between Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, with Ankara sending a seismic research vessel into Greek waters.
The Greece-Egypt deal was widely seen as a response to a disputed agreement reached earlier between Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli-based administration that increased tension in the region.
Greece, Cyprus and Egypt widely criticized the “invalid” deal between Ankara and Tripoli, saying it infringed on their economic rights. (source agencies)
