Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Nikos Christodoulides (to CyBC) in Cairo, after his meeting with Egyptian counterpart Mr. Sameh Shoukry
I would like to express my absolute satisfaction regarding the discussions I had with my counterpart, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, as well as with the President of the country, on a number of issues.
Starting with our bilateral relations, with regard to which we decided to work in specific areas to further strengthen them - in particular in the fields of economy, trade, investment and education - and within this framework as soon as possible to hold a joint meeting of the Councils of Ministers of the two countries.
At the trilateral level, our cooperation is at an excellent stage. The meeting of the Ministers of Defense took place only recently in Nicosia. What was decided today is the strengthening of our trlateral cooperation (with Egypt and Greece) with the participation of other States, and more specifically of France. And we hope that in the beginning of June it will be possible to hold a joint meeting of the four Foreign Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Greece.
At the same time, our cooperation on many issues, be it on energy cooperation or electricity interconnection, continues. The establishment of the Cairo Energy Forum is tangible proof of our cooperation and it is positive that the European Union has just recently completed the relevant procedures and there is a joint decision to submit a request so that it can participate in its work.
I wish to state publicly as well that, on behalf of the President of the Republic and on behalf of the government, I have extended our warm congratulations to Egypt on the crucial role it has played in the de-escalation of the situation in Israel and Gaza. This testifies to Egypt's decisive role in the broader region.