At an extremely critical juncture for the Eastern Mediterranean and with an eye on developments in Syria, where Turkey aspires to play an elevated role, Kyriakos Mitsotakis travels today to Cairo. There, he will join Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Egyptian host Abdel Fattah Al Sisi at the Greece-Cyprus-Egypt trilateral.

The cooperation between the three countries has strategic characteristics, with Athens, Nicosia, and Cairo consistently keeping an open line. Mitsotakis and Mr. Al Sisi even have a warm personal relationship.

Notably, Mitsotakis will have a private meeting with the Egyptian president shortly before the trilateral talks begin, while maintaining an open coordination line with the Nicosia Presidential Palace and Mr Christodoulides. Immediately after the conclusion of the bilateral discussions, the trilateral meeting will be followed by the trilateral and then the expanded delegations meeting, while joint statements to the press are scheduled after 14:00.

As is obvious, the central topic of discussion will be regional developments with a focus on Syria. According to government sources, Mitsotakis will reiterate Greece’s position on the need for an inclusive process with the participation of all Syrians and will send the message that Syria’s new leadership must demonstrate in practice that it respects International Law and that the rights of all religious and ethnic minorities are protected. What all three at the table have in common is that Turkey should not play alone in Syria and, of course, plans for a Turkish-Syrian EEZ should not be implemented. It should be noted that Egypt is also on board with this approach, despite a point-by-point rapprochement with Turkey after a decade-long “ice” in their relations.

Electrical interconnection

Counterbalancing Turkish plans is, of course, the energy cooperation that is in the “works” and aims to be accelerated as much as possible. The three leaders are expected to send out a message of strengthening cooperation more broadly, but also specifically regarding the Greece-Egypt GREGY electrical interconnection project, which will make our country an energy bridge between Egypt and Europe. Notably, the electrical interconnection of the two countries was officially included in the list of Projects of Mutual Interest (PMI) of the European Union, after the list managed to get the consent of the European Parliament on March 12, 2024.

It is recalled that Mitsotakis’ last visit to Cairo took place in March 2024, together with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and other European leaders for the signing of the EU-Egypt Strategic and Partnership Agreement, for which Greece took the lead in stressing the strategic importance of the stability of Egypt for Europe, as well as the importance of Cairo in curbing migratory flows to European countries.

The Business Forum

At the same time, a business forum will be organized on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting, which will include face-to-face business meetings (b2b) between Egyptians on the one hand, and Greek and Cypriot businessmen on the other, as well as meetings between businessmen and attending ministers and government officials from the three countries. More than 200 companies from the three countries and seven ministers from Egypt, Greece and Cyprus are expected to participate in the conference.

On the Greek side, Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Frangogogiannis will participate in one of his last missions before he “hands over” his duties in a few days. The conference program also includes the organization of a high-level roundtable on energy and infrastructure, with the participation of ministers and senior representatives of leading companies in the energy, construction, and infrastructure sectors of the three countries.

According to information, from the Greek side, representatives of major companies, such as Helleniq Energy, VIOKHALCO, GEK TERNA, the Kopelouzos Group, the Athens Medical Center Group, Antipollution Egypt, DP Pumps, Alpha Systems, will participate in the mission, while the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be represented by First Vice President Sofia Kounenaki-Efraimoglou.