Egyptian president visits Greece to strengthen cooperation in energy, trade and security

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi started on Tuesday a two-day official visit to Athens aiming to strengthen bilateral cooperation in several sectors, starting with energy, trade and security.

Closer collaboration in the exploitation of gas deposits in the Mediterranean Sea was expected to dominate the trilateral meeting between the political leaders of Greece, Egypt and Cyprus scheduled for Wednesday.

On Tuesday in talks with Greek President Karolos Papoulias and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Sisi praised the historically strong ties of friendship between the two countries.

The Egyptian leader called for enhanced collaboration on bilateral, regional and international level to address issues, such as terrorism and the conflict in Syria.

On his part, the Greek president praised Egypt's "stabilizing" role in the Middle East, while Tsipras expressed confidence that a new era opens in bilateral cooperation that will help the wider region.

In regard to the trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus Pavlopoulos stressed that it is "a model because it respects the international law," and suggested that Turkey could learn from this.

Greece's and Cyprus' relations with their archrival Turkey have soured in recent years over the exploitation of gas deposits in the Mediterranean in disputed zones.

On Tuesday evening Sisi and Tsipras were due to attend a Greek-Egyptian business forum during which two agreements on the cooperation of the ports of Kavala and Alexandroupolis in northern Greece with Egyptian ports will be signed.

On Wednesday they will be joined by Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades. Endit