The strong cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt is formalized in the establishment of a powerful Greek-Egyptian military alliance, ensuring peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Greek government sources underline that the Trilateral Summit between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt on Tuesday 21 November in Nicosia highlights and confirms the important role of the Greek-Egyptian cooperation in the region.
Greece and Egypt, two countries and two nations with traditionally strong and friendly ties ever since the 3rd millennium BC, are now closer than ever, since the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood from the Egyptian rule in early July 2013.
The restoration of the secular state in Egypt under Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is being tested during the last four years by the jihadists trying to destabilize the land of the Nile, but Athens has, during all this time, vigorously supported Cairo, pointing out to the international community, at every opportunity, that a collapse of Egypt similar to that of Syria, would undoubtedly implicate the western world too. As a force of responsibility and maturity, Greece vetoed frivolous European attempts that tried to undermine the secular regime of President Sisi.
Greece, as a western country, which has been historically and culturally associated with the Middle East and North Africa for over five thousand years, with Greek and Greek Orthodox communities and minorities scattered all over the Eastern Mediterranean, is an integral part of the region and acts as a bridge with Europe.
As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Nikos Kotzias has specified in the past, Greece is the ambassador of the Arab world in the West, and the western power that its Arab neighbours trust.
Hellenism, as a bastion of the West in the Balkans and a pillar of stability and security from the Danube to the Middle East and North Africa, represented by Greece and Cyprus has been conducting trilateral meetings with the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean basin, (Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon and Jordan) aiming to strengthen cooperation in a sensitive area.
The Trilateral Summit in Nicosia highlights the important role of Greek-Egyptian cooperation.
The issues that dominate the agenda relate to energy, economic and geopolitical interests.
More specifically, the issues regarding the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone, defence cooperation (recent air and naval exercise “Medusa II” conducted by Greek and Egyptian forces) will be posed, along with a dialogue on regional developments.
In the economic sector, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the three countries in the tourism sector will be signed, emphasizing cruise tourism.
Particular importance will be given to the expansion of the activities of Greek construction companies to projects in Egypt and to the joint venture between the Suez Canal with Greek ports.
Additionally, Egypt’s role in developments in the Middle East will be discussed; developments that directly affect both Greece and Cyprus.
For the aforementioned reasons, the dialogue between these three countries is of paramount importance, at a time of strained relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The new trilateral meeting between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt proves that Greece’s role in the region as a pillar of stability and cooperation is cemented. It is worth noting regarding the relations between Greece and Egypt, that Egypt is represented in Qatar by the Greek Embassy and that should (the outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister) Saad Hariri did not have to address the political crisis in his country, he was scheduled to visit Greece for the Euro-Arab summit and Cyprus for the Trilateral Summit.
The importance of tightening relations between Greece and the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia is also significant.
Meanwhile, and it is important to emphasize this, Greece is Israel’s credible ally in the region, with the two countries having built a strong alliance.
Greeks have, since ancient times, managed to unify Eastern Mediterranean into a single area of commerce, culture and cooperation.
It is characteristic, that near end of the 460 BC decade, the Athenians as the rulers of the Greeks decided to support Egypt in its revolution against Persia, by sending an expeditionary force in the country that fought side by side with the Egyptians for their freedom. Eventually, in 331 BC, the Greek army under Alexander the Great liberated Egypt from Persian rule, and the Egyptian people declared the emperor of the Greeks a “liberator” and crowned him a Pharaoh.