Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos on Tuesday received Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry, stressing Egypt’s important role for the stability of the wider southeast Mediterranean region.

“Greece and Europe in general support the stability of Egypt, because we recognise the critical role that it plays in many areas of the region, and especially the following three: firstly, in fighting terrorism and especially jihadist terrorism; secondly, in combatting and especially preventing illegal migration and chiefly the illegally trafficking and trade in people; and thirdly, for free navigation in a crucial region, the Suez canal and the Red Sea,” Pavlopoulos said.

The Greek president also expressed the grief of the Greek people for the victims of the recent terror attacks in Egypt, especially those targeting the places of worship of the Coptic Christian community and at St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai.

He thanked the Egyptian minister for the constructive cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt regarding the Exclusive Economic Zones of the three countries.

Shoukry, who visited Athens to participate in the Ancient Civilisations’ Forum organised by Greece, conveyed the greetings of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Egyptian’s president invitation for a new meeting with Pavlopoulos, which the Greek president accepted.

He noted that bilateral relations between Greece and Egypt had been significantly enhanced in recent years and were now at a very high level in all areas. Egypt looked forward to even closer ties with Greece on a political and economic level, as well as efforts to promote security, peace and prosperity in the region, he added.

The Egyptian Minister will also meet with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias and the leader of the main opposition New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Regional developments, bilateral cooperation between Greece and Egypt in the economic and energy sectors, defence and the fight against terrorism dominated a meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Shoukry on Monday.

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