Support for Cyprus’ EEZ rights against ‘any third-country threat’, Tsipras says at Greece-Cyprus-Egypt summit
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“We clearly expressed our support for Cyprus in its efforts to exercise its sovereign rights under international law with respect to its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), against any third-country threat, and stressed the importance that this drilling has for the entire Cypriot people, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday, after the end of the 6th Greece-Cyprus-Egypt summit held in Elounda on Crete.
Tsipras referred to the role of Greece and Cyprus as a regional European pillar of stability and the important role played by Egypt for the entire region.
“It is clear that there can be no solutions for the Palestinian problem and in Libya without Egypt. Balance in the Mediterranean, Middle East and West Africa cannot exist without Egypt. Tackling terrorism and controlling refugee flows from Africa cannot happen without Egypt,” he pointed out.
The Greek prime minister also referred to the decision to hold the summit in Crete, saying the choice was symbolic both because of its proximity to all three countries but also for its role as a cultural and economic crossroads in the Mediterranean over the millenia, with a high geostrategic value that continued to the present day, when it was being converted into a natural gas and electricity transit hub.
He especially emphasised Egypt’s role in handling migration, noting the central importance of stability and growth of countries in the region and cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination. He said that Greece fully supports the holding of an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt in February.
Tsipras also noted the need to start a discussion on establishing strategic EU-Egypt relations that will include support in Egypt of a series of reforms.
Source: ANA-MPA