A tripartite meeting of the Greek, Cypriot and Israeli Foreign Ministers to be held in Athens, on Tuesday

A tripartite meeting of Greek, Israeli and Cypriot Ministers of Foreign Affairs will take place in Athens, on Tuesday, followed by bilateral contacts between the Greek Foreign Minister, Mr Nikos Dendias, and his Cypriot counterpart, Mr Ioannis Kasoulides, and his Israeli counterpart, Mr Yair Lapid.

As stated by the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Alexandros Papaioannou, the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus will discuss the close coordination regarding the Cyprus issue, as well as the coordination within the EU framework.

The meeting between the Greek Foreign Minister and his Israeli counterpart will focus on the planning of strategic cooperation between the two countries, the developments in the wider region in every sector, such as energy or the fight against terrorism.

Regarding the latter, Mr Alexandros Papaioannou remarked that “unfortunately we have had three terrorist attacks in Israel, in recent days, which we have condemned”. He further noted that there would be a broader discussion on developments in the region, the Middle East, the Gulf, North Africa, as well as on the meeting in the Negev Desert, in Israel, between the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, which was also attended by US Secretary of State, Mr Antony Blinken.

Energy crisis and Ukraine

Regarding the tripartite meeting, the foreign ministers will continue discussing the issues raised during their last meeting, last August, according to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency. They will examine the cooperationamong the three countries in every sector, including energy, and will discuss developments in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region in the light of the radical changes at the geostrategic level taking place even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Asked about the EastMed pipeline, the foreign ministry spokesman said that the issue is economic, not geopolitical, and added: “We discuss every single issue.” He reiterated that its implementation will ultimately depend on economic data.