The foreign ministers of Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and France on Friday discussed means of boosting cooperation in various fields including energy, climate change, combating coronavirus, and migration, a communiqué on their meeting in Athens said.
They also agreed on the need to prioritize advancement of peace and stability at the regional and global levels, and to advance comprehensive economic development that all the four countries aspire to in accordance with the existing legal multilateral framework, the communiqué said.
“We referred to the excellent relations among our respective States, in full accordance with International Law and the Law of the Sea, and stressed the strategic nature of our relationship, which lays the solid foundations for advanced cooperation in multiple fields,” it added.
Egypt’s Sameh Shoukry, Greece’s Nikos Dendias, France’s Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Cyprus’s Nikos Christodoulides held a press conference after their Athens meeting.
The meeting comes only a few weeks before France’s assumption of the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) on 1 January, 2022.
Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus have held several meetings over the recent years at the highest levels to discuss boosting economic ties and cooperation in the field of energy.
During the presser, Egypt's Shoukry said the Athens meeting underscored the quad’s political will to continue enhancing cooperation relations in all fields, including energy, climate change, as well as economic development.
The meeting also discussed boosting cooperation within the framework of “benefiting from our natural resources fully and without an interference from any party whose policies lead to instability in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Shoukry noted.
Cyprus’s Christodoulides said the meeting discussed in detail cooperation regarding synergies that focus on strategic infrastructure projects, as well as the development of the region as an alternative energy corridor for Europe.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
