The Greek island of Crete hosted the sixth trilateral summit between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Leaders of the three countries underlined the importance of strengthening the partnership between their countries in the context of the tripartite cooperation mechanism, which has become a solid strategic basis in the region and a model for regional cooperation in the midst of the escalating challenges facing the region.
The talks also dealt with the developments in Syria and Libya, the Palestinian issue, in addition to the file of illegal immigration and combating terrorism, as well as the files of economic cooperation between the three countries, especially in the field of energy and natural gas and electricity transmission.
Convergent visions
The Egyptian president stressed the importance of the summit's convergence of views on the issues and crises experienced by some countries in the region, especially the Palestinian cause, and the situation in both Syria and Libya, pointing out the need to work to stop the bloodshed and reconstruction and reconstruction where there is no room for it Only to settle political crises, to meet the aspirations of the peoples in a better future, and to miss the opportunity of terrorist and extremist organizations, based on the financial, political and logistical support they receive from some parties, who do not hesitate to depart from international laws and norms in order to establish a foothold Influence, and interests A narrow on the lives and capabilities of peaceful peoples account.
In the field of combating terrorism, the Egyptian president stressed the importance of confronting the expansion of extremism and terrorism, which seeks to achieve its objectives in the name of religion, whether to destroy the concept and the national state and its institutions, or to destroy human societies and civilization, as well as the challenges related to refugee issues, illegal migration and organized crime.
The Sisi stressed the importance of all regional and international parties in this regard in order to spare the region the dangers they face by respecting the principles of stability among nations and promoting the values of good neighborliness and coexistence in a framework of broad horizons, renunciation of violence and hatred, The peaceful resolution of conflicts as the only way to restore security and stability in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
Importance of Libya
On the basis of the same principle, the Egyptian president added: "During our summit today, we stressed the importance of not leaving Libya the arena for foreign intervention or making it an incubator for terrorist organizations. This requires the implementation of the Skhirat agreement and all elements of the UN initiative for political solution in Libya. Last year, while working in parallel to unite the military and security in Libya, and enable it to carry out its tasks to end the reliance on militias to achieve security.
On the Cyprus issue, President Sissi stressed the importance of working towards resuming the negotiations for the unification of the country, in accordance with the decisions of international legitimacy and United Nations resolutions, and taking into account the concerns of all, without imposing guardianship over one another.
The topics of tripartite cooperation and joint projects were a high priority during the extensive discussions between the delegations of the three countries, in order to strengthen economic and investment relations, and to make maximum use of the huge potential and geostrategic sites that enable them to launch the process of cooperation especially in the field of energy and electricity transmission, Economic fields.
Triple convergence
The last four years witnessed a Greek-Cypriot-Egyptian rapprochement in a series of agreements, memorandums of understanding signed by the officials of the three countries, as well as a border demarcation agreement that allowed Egypt to carry out gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and the resulting discoveries in the gas field Natural.
The rapprochement and cooperation between the three countries has aroused the indignation of Turkey, which is seeking to extend its influence over the Eastern Mediterranean region. It has already expressed its rejection of the Convention on the demarcation of the border between Egypt and Cyprus, which has received a clear response from Cairo that the Convention has gained international status by being deposited by the United Nations.
On the other hand, the cooperation between the three countries witnessed an intensification in the security and military fields through joint training and cooperation in combating terrorism and illegal immigration.
