Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hailed the progress of the trilateral summit of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt in Nicosia on Tuesday.
Tsipras made the comment in a joint press statement with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi and also announced that Greece will host the next trilateral summit to be held on Crete in 2018.
The Greek Prime Minister commented on the longstanding Cyprus issue reiterating Athens' support for a fair and viable solution and noted that all three countries shared respect for international law.
"This is particularly important for us, and for the model of cooperation we seek to promote in the region," the Greek premier noted, adding that "in this context we support a fair and viable solution of the Cyprus issue, based on UN Treaties and Cyprus' status as an EU state-member."
Tsipras called for "a reunited, federal Cyprus, without guarantees and occupation troops, for the benefit of the entire Cypriot people."
On his part, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said that Tuesday's summit meeting "further deepens the trilateral mechanism of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt." He stressed that "the discovery of hydrocarbons in our region can and should act as a catalyst for wider regional cooperation," contributing to prosperity and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Anastasiades said that the joint communique adopted at the summit outlined all the priorities of the three countries in all areas of cooperation between them. This cooperation, as he said, has produced tangible results, among others on an economic and social level, for the benefit of the people in all three countries.
The aim of the trilateral mechanism set up with Greece and Cyprus was to develop economic cooperation between the three countries, Egypt's President said. He emphasised the fact that the Trilateral cooperation aims at the preservation of the three countries' role in the future, for the security and prosperity of their people.
