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| Sisi, Egypt (left), Tsipras, Greece (center), Anastasiades, Cyprus |
President Nicos Anastasiades was in Greece on Monday for a quick one-day visit ahead of the fourth tripartite meeting with the leaders of Egypt and Greece in Cairo, which is expected to further deepen trade cooperation between the three countries.
In Athens on Monday, Anastasiades, accompanied by transport minister Marios Demetriades and government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides, attended a working lunch hosted by the Cypriot Shipowners’ Union.
He was then expected to award honorary certificates to relatives of Greek missing persons at an event attended by his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
Later in the afternoon, Anastasiades was expected to fly from Athens to Cairo for the tripartite summit between Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt.
In this fourth instalment, items on the summit’s agenda were energy, regional developments, the European Union’s relations with Egypt, the latest in the ongoing Cyprus problem talks, and cooperation between the three countries in areas like tourism, agriculture, the environment, aviation, shipping, and commerce.
During the summit, two joint statements of intent were scheduled to be signed on issues of environmental protection, cargo shipping, and recreational cruises.
On the Egypt leg of the trip, in addition to Demetriades, Anastasiades will be accompanied by the foreign, energy and agriculture ministers Ioannis Kasoulides, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis and Nicos Kouyialis.
According to the schedule, on Tuesday morning Anastasiades will have a tete-a-tete with Egyptian President Fattah el-Sisi at the presidential palace.
Following the two men’s meeting, they will be joined by Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras in planting three olive trees in the palace’s gardens, as a symbol of friendship and cooperation between their respective countries.
The three leaders will then hold expanded talks with their delegations, to be followed by remarks to the press and a joint declaration of the results of the talks.
President el-Sisi will then host a lunch in honour of his Greek and Cypriot counterparts.
On Wednesday, Anastasiades and el-Sisi will hold a second tete-a-tete, in order to discuss issues relating to regional developments, relations between the EU and Egypt, energy, and economic matters.
In the context of this meeting, it is expected that a bilateral agreement on cargo aviation.
The Cypriot delegation will return to Cyprus on Wednesday afternoon.
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