These decisions are follow-ups of the meeting Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades had with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry in Limassolal, who was accompanied by the Ambassador of Egypt to Cyprus, Mai Taha Khalil. The 15-minute meeting discussed a wide range of subjects, particularly relating to energy security of the region. While reiterating support to the sovereign rights and the energy program of the Republic of Cyprus, Egypt assured resumption of the dialogue for a Cyprus settlement. During the discussions, it was decided that a business forum will also meet in Egypt to explore investment opportunities for Cypriot businessmen in connection with projects on the Suez Canal and the new administrative capital of Egypt.
New discovery of hydrocarbon in the eastern Mediterranean have triggered the need for bolstering a trilateral arrangement among Egypt, Cyprus and Greece for fully exploiting the resources. Cairo will host the next Cyprus-Greece-Egypt heads of state trilateral Summit in November to forge closer cooperation between the three neighbors especially on energy matters.
The two sides took stock of Cypriot-Egyptian relations and underscored the need for trilateral cooperation with Greece. Cyprus flagged Turkey’s provocative actions in the region, which will jeopardize the peace talks in the region.
The two leaders focused on the importance of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum as well as the significance of turning this forum into an international organisation for energy issues.
The new energy findings are bringing several other countries like Turkey and Israel to partake in the new discoveries. However, being a member of EU, Cyprus seems to be pressing for bringing EU into the picture to effectively address regional challenges. Cyprus is also pitching for a strong Egypt-EU tie-up to address the common challenges in the region.
