Greece, Egypt and Cyprus Strengthen Defence Cooperation

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Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Tuesday, September 22, as Greece, Egypt and Cyprus moved to strengthen defence cooperation and coordination over regional security challenges.

Dendias conveyed Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ greetings to El-Sisi and highlighted the longstanding and historic ties between Greece and Egypt. He also reaffirmed Greece’s commitment to coordinating with Egypt in addressing common challenges.

Egyptian Defence and Military Production Minister and Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Ashraf Salem Zaher and Egyptian Armed Forces Armament Authority head Major General Mohamed Adly Abdel Wahid Soliman also attended the meeting.

Dendias later joined a trilateral meeting with Zaher and Cypriot Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas.

The talks focused on strengthening cooperation between the three countries’ armed forces, joint military exercises and training activities, operational interoperability, cooperation in new technologies and defence innovation, and security challenges across the wider region.

The three ministers concluded the meeting by signing a Joint Declaration.

Dendias then held separate bilateral meetings with his Egyptian and Cypriot counterparts.

During his meeting with Zaher, the two ministers discussed further strengthening the strategic defence relationship between Greece and Egypt, as well as security challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region.

His meeting with Palmas focused on further deepening bilateral defence relations between Greece and Cyprus.

Dendias described Egypt as a “strategic and essential ally” for both Greece and Cyprus following the trilateral meeting.

“I had the pleasure of working with the Cypriot Defence Minister, Vasilis Palmas, and my Egyptian counterpart. Earlier today, before the trilateral meeting, I was received by the President of Egypt, General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi,” Dendias said.

He added that he was “extremely satisfied” with the trilateral meeting, describing it as another step towards deepening Greek-Egyptian-Cypriot relations.

Dendias said the meeting followed a trilateral summit held several days earlier in El Alamein.

Regarding the substance of the talks, he referred to the “extremely clear and extensive joint communiqué”, saying that it “says everything”.

Dendias stressed that Greece regards Egypt as a strategic and essential ally and said Greek-Egyptian relations do not depend on Athens’ relations with any other country.

“We Greeks do not link our good relations with Egypt to our relations with any other state, nor do we consider our relations with Egypt as directed against any other state,” he said.

He said the two countries conduct their relationship on the basis of mutual sincerity and a lasting commitment to respect international law and the international law of the sea.

Dendias also referred to agreements Greece and Egypt have already signed, highlighting their agreement on an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which he signed while serving as Greece’s Foreign Minister with Egypt’s then-Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

“It was therefore a very successful meeting, another step in Greek-Egyptian relations,” Dendias said.

Earlier, during his meeting with El-Sisi, Dendias said he presented the Egyptian president with Greece’s perspective on the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region.

He also outlined the effort to reform the Greek Armed Forces and discussed plans to deepen defence relations between the two countries.

Dendias also congratulated El-Sisi on the capabilities of the Egyptian Armed Forces, as demonstrated during the Medusa military exercise.

Dendias was accompanied during his Cairo visit by Greece’s Ambassador to Egypt Nikolaos Papageorgiou and Major General Ioannis Korres, Director of the D Branch of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff.

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