Cairo summit underway

A summit held between Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt was taking place Tuesday in Cairo, with President Anastasiades drawing attention to international law amidst challenges posed by Turkish drilling off the island’s southern coast.

Republic of Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades travelled to Egyptian capital on Tuesday morning, where he was scheduled to meet President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as well as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who was also visiting Cairo for a trilateral summit.

In a post on Twitter, Anastasiades said the trilateral summit was a way to show the establishment of an important mechanism of regional cooperation, aiming to fulfill the common vision of achieving peace, security, and prosperity in the region.

Anastasiades was accompanied by Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides, Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, and Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou.

One topic on the agenda was cooperation in the energy field, while discussions were expected to include EU-Egypt relations and the role of the Suez Canal Economic Zone in promoting financial opportunities between Europe and Africa. Economic and cultural relations were also on the list of topics for discussion.

According to Kathimerini Greece, Mitsotakis was expected to point to “the problems Turkey’s stance is creating both at the level of bilateral relations, as well as in the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.”

Mitsotakis praised the tripartite partnership as a “powerful institution of multi-level and expanding regional cooperation,” adding that such collaboration was open to other states with a foreign policy aimed at keeping neighborly relations on the basis of the rule of international law.

Anastasiades and Mitostakis held seperate meetings with the Egyptian president earlier in the day, while statements to the press were expected at the conclusion of the trilateral meeting, which began around midday.