President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi held a number of meetings with heads of states and government officials from France, Russia, Greece and Algeria on the sidelines of the inauguration of the New Suez Canal on Thursday.
These included a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, where the duo reviewed ways to strengthen and support bilateral relations between Egypt and France.
Al-Sisi also met with Russian Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedev, who conveyed President Vladimir Putin’s greetings on the opening of the new canal. The meeting included talks on bilateral relations and ways of strengthening them.
The president also met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, where they discussed ways to develop relations and cooperation between the two countries.
Tsipras also extended an invitation to Al-Sisi to visit Greece, which will include a tripartite meeting between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus to discuss regional and international issues of common interest.
Last April, Egypt, Greece and Cyprus signed the “Nicosia Declaration”, which stipulated that “the three countries will step up cooperation on combating terrorism amid fears that worsening security conditions in neighbouring countries such as Libya could threaten the region”.
The declaration strengthens the tripartite partnership in promoting peace, stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean. It also tackled the situation in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Further, the tripartite meeting expressed support for Yemen’s legitimate government led by Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, and concern over the deteriorating security situation in Libya.
The three countries also backed Palestine’s calls for establishing a sovereign state along the 1967 borders.
