The Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, paid a visit to Cairo, where at the start of his contacts today, he was first received by H.E. the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace.
Mr. Dendias conveyed to President El-Sisi the greetings of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, emphasized the breadth and long-standing nature of the historical relations between Greece and Egypt, and reaffirmed our country's will for coordination between the two states in addressing common challenges.
Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Defense and Military Production of the Arab Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Egypt, General Ashraf Salem Zaher, and the head of the Armaments Authority of the Armed Forces of Egypt, Major General Mohamed Adly Abdel Wahid Soliman.
Subsequently, Mr. Dendias participated in the Trilateral Meeting with the Minister of Defense and Military Production of the Arab Republic of Egypt, General Ashraf Salem Zaher, and the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus, Vasilis Palmas.
The discussions focused on the further strengthening of cooperation between the Armed Forces of the three countries, joint exercises and training activities, operational interoperability, cooperation in the field of new technologies and defense innovation, as well as challenges in the security environment in the wider region.
The Trilateral Meeting concluded with the signing of a Joint Declaration.
The Greek Minister stated after the conclusion of the Trilateral Meeting:
“The trilateral between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece at the level of Ministers of National Defence was completed a short while ago.
I thus had the pleasure of cooperating with the Cypriot Minister, Vasilis Palmas, and with my Egyptian counterpart.
This morning, before the trilateral meeting, I was received by the President of Egypt, General Fattah El-Sisi.
I would like to say that I am extremely satisfied with the trilateral. It is yet another step in deepening Greek-Egyptian-Cypriot relations and comes as a continuation of the also very successful trilateral summit meeting a few days ago in El Alamein.
As regards the content of this trilateral, I would like to refer you to the extremely clear and extensive joint communiqué. I think it says it all.
I conclude with the following observation: Egypt is a strategic and indispensable ally for Greece and for Cyprus. We Greeks do not make our good relations with Egypt dependent on relations with any other state, nor do we regard our relations with Egypt as directed against any other state.
These are relations which are analyzed and examined within the framework of mutual sincerity, the permanent and enduring perception of respect for International Law and the International Law of the Sea, and within the framework of the agreements we have already signed with Egypt, foremost among them the agreement on the Exclusive Economic Zone, which I had the honor to sign in my previous capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs with the then Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry (Sameh Shoukry). So, a very successful meeting, yet another step in Greek-Egyptian relations.”
Afterwards, Mr. Dendias held successive bilateral meetings with his counterparts.
During the meeting with the Minister of Defense and Military Production of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the further strengthening of the strategic defense relationship between the two states and the security challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region were discussed, while during the meeting with the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus, the further deepening of bilateral defense relations was discussed.
The Minister of National Defence was accompanied during his visit to Cairo by the Ambassador of Greece to Egypt Nikolaos Papageorgiou and the Director of the D Branch of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Major General Ioannis Korres.