ATHENS — “It is my pleasure to visit Greece and I want to thank you for the hospitality and the perfect organisation,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Tuesday after his meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“Our trilateral cooperation is a very important forum for the development of cooperation in the economy, defence but also for the exchange of views on the great challenges we are facing in our region,” he noted and added that: “Our cooperation also touches on the unprecedented coronavirus problem.”

“Our intention is to strengthen our cooperation in the field of energy and I stress the importance of the memorandum of cooperation regarding the trilateral electricity interconnection,” the Egyptian president stated.

“We see this as a prelude to a general electricity interconnection with Europe. Our big plan is to establish the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum for the exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits in all countries with respect for international law,” he added.

Referring to the Cyprus issue, al-Sisi underlined: “We support a fair solution of the Cyprus issue on the basis of international law and UN resolutions. We also support the holding of free elections in Libya and the removal of all foreign troops. We also discussed the Palestinian issue in light of the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last May. We discussed the issue of Syria, supporting the efforts made by the UN representative, and we continue to support the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity. We are in favour of maintaining stability in Lebanon. We also discussed the issue of terrorism, but also illegal migration.”

Concluding his remarks, the Egyptian president said: “We presented Egypt’s approach to human rights, but also the conditions under which every human being will feel safe. I would like to thank you for your efforts to strengthen the trilateral cooperation and I look forward to hosting the 10th Summit of the Trilateral Cooperation of Greece – Cyprus – Egypt.”