By Hussein Mahmoud
CAIRO (AA) – Participants at the fourth trilateral summit Tuesday between Egypt, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration discussed demarcating economic zones in the Mediterranean, getting natural gas to Europe and accelerating the implementation of joint projects, according to its leaders.
“The Mediterranean Sea connects us and international crises emerge from the sea as well, including security and immigration ones,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told a news conference in Cairo alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades.
“We look forward to cooperating to meet these challenges, and we propose a model of cooperation to take advantage of the strategic location we live in,” he added.
“In the area of energy, we discussed the need to strengthen cooperation, the transportation of natural gas from fields in Egypt and Cyprus to Europe, and also discussed the demarcation of our economic zones,” Tsipras said.
He continued: “We have decided to cooperate in maritime transport and the development of ports and how to engage our companies in these areas, and cooperation in tourism and transportation as well.”
Sisi said: “We discussed ways to accelerate the implementation of joint projects in various areas, including developing and utilizing energy resources for the benefit of our peoples.
“We also have to preserve these resources as they belong to future generations, and we have to preserve the Mediterranean environment and activate the linkages between our ports.”
Anastasiades told reporters that this trilateral cooperation is not directed against any party.
“There is joint cooperation between Egypt and Greece in discovering energy reserves in the Middle East, and these discoveries could bring prosperity to our countries and provide future prospects for cooperation with Europe,” he added.
The Greek Cypriot leader said the next trilateral summit would be held next year on the island but did not specify a date.
The demarcation of maritime borders between Mediterranean countries and the potential discoveries of large quantities of natural gas are considered key debates for countries in the region, as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean at 1.7 billion barrels of oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Egypt, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration previously held three summits to boost cooperation in the areas of energy, gas exploration and counter-terrorism: November 2014 in Cairo, April 2015 in the south of Cyprus and December 2015 in Athens.
