PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE
21/11/2017 19:51
The Cyprus-Greece-Egypt Trilateral Summit took place in Lefkosia
The fifth consecutive Trilateral Summit among Cyprus, Greece and Egypt took place today, at the Presidential Palace, in Lefkosia, among the President of the Republic Mr Nicos Anastasiades, the President of Egypt Mr Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and the Prime Minister of Greece Mr Alexis Tsipras.
In the framework of the Trilateral Summit the three governments signed a Protocol on Cooperation in Cruise Tourism.
Following the deliberations of the delegations of the three countries, the two Presidents and the Prime Minister made statements to the Media.
In his remarks President Anastasiades said, inter alia, that Energy is one of the basic pillars of the trilateral mechanism adding that the discovery of hydrocarbon reserves in the region could act as a catalyst for the wider cooperation on a regional level, thus contributing to the welfare and stability of Eastern Mediterranean.
President Anastasiades also said that the three countries share a common will to combat illegal migration and have agreed to expand their cooperation by taking specific measures.
He further noted that the trilateral cooperation has expanded also in the fields of information technology and communications, and announced the inauguration, today, of the Joint Innovation Center between Cyprus, Egypt, and Greece, the Burg El Arab Technology Park, in Egypt.
President Anastasiades said that another important goal is to undertake joint actions to safeguard the cultural heritage of the three countries based on the Council of Europe Convention on crimes related to cultural heritage.
He added that tourism is also another important pillar of the economic cooperation among the three countries.
Referring to the field of the Environment President Anastasiades said that the three leaders agreed on joint actions, adding that in this content a business forum on waste management will take place in Nicosia in early 2018.
President Anastasiades said that a new field of cooperation was decided today, concerning the identification of specific initiatives involving the diaspora.
Referring to the Cyprus problem, the President said he briefed President Sisi and Prime Minister Tsipras on the latest developments adding that at the Crans Montana Conference on Cyprus a solution could not be reached due to Turkey’s persistence on maintaining guarantees and troops.
On his part President Sisi said, inter alia, that the trilateral mechanism aims to develop the economic cooperation among the three countries, adding that it is also an important pillar of maintaining security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Prime Minister of Greece said on his part, inter alia, that the next Cyprus-Greece-Egypt summit will take place in 2018, in Crete.
He added that there are increased important prospects of cooperation among the three countries in the fields of economy, energy, transport, tourism, security and defense.
Mr Tsipras said also that the three leaders decided today to expand their countries’ cooperation in the field of Energy, adding that this cooperation is the bridge between Europe and Africa, and pointed out that the EuroAfrica interconnector is what will link the market of North Africa with the market of Europe, through Crete and Cyprus.
Referring to the Cyprus problem, the Greek Prime Minister said that “we support a viable solution to the Cyprus problem based on the decisions of the UN and the status of Cyprus as an EU member state, (we support) a reunified federal Cyprus with no guarantees and occupation troops, for the benefit of all the people of Cyprus.”
source:https://www.pio.gov.cy/MOI/pio/pio2013.nsf/All/07E4882F85DFE5FAC22581DF00620F5C?OpenDocument&L=E
