Mitsotakis-El Sisi meeting in Egypt; geopolitical situation discussed, prospect of labor exchange

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday called his official visit to Egypt and meeting with Egyptian President Abdel El-Sisi “brief but productive”.

“As you already know I have an excellent personal relation with President El-Sisi and I am here to reaffirm the strategic depth of relations between Greece and Egypt and to thank Egypt for its actions to support my country by sending military helicopters to assist in the battle with the wildfires,” the Greek premier said after laying a wreath for fallen Greek soldiers at the El Alamein military cemetery.

Mitsotakis said the geopolitical situation in the eastern Mediterranean was discussed, as well as cooperation in the energy sector, especially an ambitious undersea power connection project that will bring electricity to Greece from Egypt, and which now appears to have EU backing, as he noted.

Athens and Cairo enjoy particularly warm relations, with over the past five years have also assumed a geo-political convergence of interests.

Additionally, Mitsotakis said he broached the subject of recruiting guest workers from Egypt for several sectors in Greece where a labor shortage is acute, such as agriculture and construction.

“As I have said several times before, we want to encourage legal migration, but we’ll be very strict with illegal migration. Egypt can offer assistance to Greece to cover our labor needs.”

Finally, he announced that a high-ranking bilateral ministerial meeting was agreed to, with the hope that such a body will convene in the first half of 2023.

In reply to a press question regarding third parties and their influence on Greek-Egyptian relations, alluding to Turkey, Mitsotakis said: “… of course, the Greek-Egyptian relations are independent and robust. They’re not linked to third parties and don’t depend on relations we may have with other countries in the eastern Mediterranean. This is something we’ve spelled out with President El-Sisi, this is the character of our relations.”