On 3 August, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the Mediterranean coastal city of New Alamein. According to Presidential Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy, the meeting began with bilateral talks followed by discussions between delegations from the two countries.

“President Al-Sisi welcomed the Greek prime minister and congratulated him on his party’s victory in parliamentary elections last month,” said Fahmi.

“President Al-Sisi praised the depth and consistency of Egypt’s strategic relations with Greece, advances in bilateral cooperation in various areas and political coordination between the two states on issues of mutual interest.”

Mitsotakis described his visit as “brief but productive”. He reaffirmed the strategic depth of relations between Greece and Egypt and thanked Egypt for supporting Greece by sending military helicopters to help fight recent wildfires.

“We had the opportunity to discuss cooperation, assess the geopolitical situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and reaffirm that Greece and Egypt are beacons of stability in the wider geopolitical region,” said Mitsotakis.

The two leaders also discussed prospects for further cooperation, with an emphasis on energy issues, and Mitsotakis reaffirmed Athens’ willingness to cooperate over human resources.

“Currently, there is a shortage of human resources in Greece, in the primary sector and construction, and we have launched a plan to fast-track cooperation in these sectors,” he said. While Greece wants to encourage legal migration, he warned “we will be very strict with illegal migration.”

Responding to a question on the recent rapprochement between Egypt and Turkey, Mitsotakis replied: “Greek-Egyptian relations are autonomous and strong, independent of third parties and other powers, and do not depend on relations we may have with other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Mitsotakis added that Greece was looking to advance its relations with Egypt given Cairo’s role in tackling the crises and challenges gripping the Mediterranean region. Both leaders acknowledged the importance of accelerating the implementation of existing agreements and memorandums of understanding and the continued promotion of cooperation in the military, economic and cultural fields, and the energy, natural gas, power connectivity and green transformation sectors.

Subsequent discussions saw an exchange of views on files of common interest, including the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF). The Cairo-based EMGF, created in 2020, comprises eight countries and aims to boost regional trade in gas.

Illegal migration in the Mediterranean was high on the agenda, with Mitsotakis praising Egypt’s effort to combat the phenomenon despite shouldering the burden of hosting millions of refugees on its land, said Fahmi.

The global consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war and ongoing regional crises, particularly Libya, were also addressed. President Al-Sisi underlined Egypt’s commitment to finding a political roadmap for Libya, including holding presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible and the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libyan territory.

A recent study released by the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies (ECSS) noted that over the last decade relations between Egypt and Greece have seen “remarkable progress” on the political, economic, cultural, and security levels.

“Visits between leaders of the two countries have been both bilateral and trilateral, in the form of summits including Egypt, Greece and Cyprus,” said the study, noting that nine trilateral summits have been held since 2014.

Trade between Egypt and Greece climbed from $1.4 in 2014 to $4 billion in 2021, $3 billion of which were Egyptian exports to Greece and $1 billion Egyptian imports from Greece. Exports to Greece comprise mostly crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) — $2.39 billion — while imports include petroleum and cotton products.

Egypt and Greece signed a historic agreement demarcating maritime boundaries in 2020. The agreement aims to maximise benefits from the resources, mostly natural gas and oil reserves, in the exclusive economic zones of both countries. According to the ECSS study, “the deal has made Greece Europe’s major importer of Egyptian LNG and linking Greece’s Aphrodite gas fields to Egyptian LNG terminals at Damietta will further boost the export of Egyptian LNG to Europe.”

* A version of this article appears in print in the 10 August, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly