N. FAHMY: Good afternoon to everyone. It is a particular honor to have with us here today the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Greece, Evangelos Venizelos.
Since arriving in Egypt this morning, Mr. Venizelos has had successive high-level meetings. He met with the President of the Republic, with the Prime Minister of Egypt, with the Secretary General of the Arab League, and, finally, we held our meeting, our talks, here at the Foreign Ministry.
The talks we had today reflect the real spirit of the friendly relations between Greece and Egypt. Our talks truly showed that this friendship is a historical relationship between two peoples, and one of the issues we looked at with Mr. Venizelos was the issue of further strengthening the relations and ties between us.
Of course, during our talks here at the Foreign Ministry we looked at a wide range of issues. Among other things, we talked about issues of mutual interest, such as the development of the situation in Syria, the Middle East peace process, and Greek-Egyptian bilateral relations. I had the opportunity to convey to Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Venizelos a better picture of everything that is happening in Egypt right now.
We also looked at Egypt’s relations with the European Union. And, naturally, among the various issues we discussed was the further promotion of Greek-Egyptian relations – further cooperation within the framework of bilateral relations. And we of course talked about the matter of maritime boundaries and economic zones in the Mediterranean.
We also talked about economic issues of common interest that concern mainly Greek investments in Egypt, and we looked at ways to further promote and increase these investments in the country.
I felt that there is will on the part of the Greek side for excellent cooperation on issues that concern Egyptians living in Greece.
We also agreed that there will be talks and coordination on our countries’ stances on various international issues.
Finally, I had the opportunity to convey to Mr. Venizelos the real situation in Egypt. We talked about the Roadmap that has been adopted by the Egyptian government, and we talked about the 50-member committee that will draw up the new Egyptian constitution. And I also had the opportunity to talk about the assassination attempt that was unfortunately made this morning on Egypt’s Interior Minister.
In closing, I would like to stress that Mr. Venizelos’ visit to Egypt constitutes a new beginning for the further strengthening and improvement of Greek-Egyptian relations.
E. VENIZELOS: My warm thanks to my Egyptian colleague, Dr. Fahmy, because his invitation to me gave me the opportunity to be here in Cairo today to state in a clear manner Greece’s will to stand by Egypt, to stand by our friends the Egyptian people, with whom we are linked by traditional, historical, profound ties of friendship.
Greece is standing at Egypt’s side, at the side of the Egyptian authorities, at the side of the transitional government, because it is our profound belief that stability in Egypt is a decisive factor in the stability of the whole region of the Middle East and North Africa – the whole Mediterranean region.
I had the honor of being received by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, and of talking at length with the Foreign Minister. As a member state of the European Union, Greece follows a policy of principles. Obviously, our priority is always democracy, respect for human rights, respect for international legality.
But we can see how tense and exceptional the situation is in Egypt. That is why we see as extremely important the commitments of the Egyptian government, which Mr. Fahmy presented, for the implementation of the Roadmap, so that democratic institutions can return to full functioning through a new Constitution and through new elections – Presidential and Parliamentary – as well as through a referendum that will give the Egyptian people the opportunity to approve the country’s new institutional framework and political identity.
I will have the opportunity to convey the content of my talks here in Egypt to my fellow EU Foreign Ministers at the two-day informal meeting we will be having tomorrow and the next day in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Greece will assume the Presidency of the EU for the first half of 2014. We will thus have the opportunity to undertake various initiatives that concern both our relationship with Egypt and our relations with the Arab League, whose Secretary General – and his team – I had the opportunity to meet with earlier.
Our countries’ positions on the regional issues I discussed with my Egyptian counterpart are well known.
You will allow me to refer very briefly to what we decided on together as regards the promotion of our bilateral issues.
For us, it is not enough for the relations of Egypt and Greece to be friendly, traditional, cultural, economic relations. We want our relationship to become strategic.
We will move ahead with the necessary consultations on a bilateral technical level regarding an issue of great interest to all the Mediterranean countries: maritime zones. The delimitation of maritime zones will be carried out in the framework, of course, of international law, and the International Law of the Sea in particular.
Our mindsets, the principles that are our starting point, are identical. And beyond our bilateral relations, we will participate in wider initiatives as well. For example, we will participate in a corresponding trilateral initiative of our two countries together with the Republic of Cyprus.
But it is also important for us to promote specific solutions to issues that we are facing – issues of common interest in the sector of the economy, investments and civil protection.
We want to encourage the Greek investment presence in Egypt through a safe framework, and at the same time we are prepared to confront all the problems facing Egyptians working in Greece.
This spirit of strategic cooperation will also naturally be expressed by us in the international organizations and at the international meetings we participate in.
I thank Dr. Fahmy once again for his warm reception and hospitality, and mainly for the substance of the talks we had here today at the Foreign Ministry.
N. FAHMY: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister.
JOURNALIST: Good evening, Mr. Minister. In the talks you had a short while ago, you mentioned the subject of cooperation, Egyptian-EU relations. As you said, Greece is assuming the EU Presidency in January. What plan do you have in mind for strengthening these relations between Egypt and the European Union, and will there be a new initiative for further strengthening these relations?
E. VENIZELOS: My colleague and I talked about a number of initiatives that we would be able to undertake, not just during the Greek Presidency, but on a broader horizon. This concerns all the issues. Cooperation on economic and trade issues, cooperation on issues of foreign policy and security and defence policy.
I had a corresponding discussion with the Secretary General of the Arab League, and we are already looking at a joint initiative during the Greek Presidency with the participation of all the Arab countries.
JOURNALIST: I have a question for both ministers and a very short one for Mr. Fahmy. The question for both is, as you both referred to your discussion on delimiting maritime zones, does this mean the immediate launching of a dialogue between experts from the two countries? And whether there is a roadmap on that. And my second question, for Mr. Fahmy, is, with the opportunity of Mr. Venizelos’ visit to Cairo, what is the message you would like to send to the European Union regarding mainly Egypt and Syria?
N. FAHMY: I thank you for the two questions. I will respond to both at the same time. In the past there were talks on various problems – on the economic zones and on other economic problems.
Our goal is to reopen these talks, to intensify them by meeting more regularly so that the interests of both countries can be secured. This is a commitment from the Egyptian side, and it is an issue on which we agreed with Mr. Venizelos, and very soon we will set up the relevant committee from the competent departments so that they can start their meetings directly.
There are many issues that Greece and Egypt should talk about together, and I believe that this will start very soon.
As you know, we have been partners with the European Union for a number of years now. There are many sectors of cooperation between the two sides. The European Union is well aware that Egypt is a major country in the region. What we are asking is that there be real cooperation, that there be mutual respect and understanding.
I am being frank when I say that there are strategic interests for the European Union – and for both sides. Egypt too has strategic interests with the European Union, and Europe has strategic interests with Egypt.
Regarding the matter of Syria. Syria is truly a tragic case that threatens the stability of the whole region. We have to understand this very well and collaborate to find political and diplomatic solutions to resolve the issue.
E. VENIZELOS: I’d like to say a few words about the first part of the question. It is our shared desire and shared commitment to bring together the teams of experts on the bilateral level regarding the matter of delimitation of maritime zones.
Our joint criterion and jointly accepted basis is international law, and the International Law of the Sea in particular. The Mediterranean is a sea that can function as an area of peace and development in the interest of all the peoples, and in this case in the interest of both Egypt and Greece.
With regard to Syria, I hardly need repeat the unequivocal condemnation of the use of chemical weapons, which is an abhorrent crime. The need for there to be a response from the international community that will safeguard the political process. That is, the need for us to get to Geneva II, to reach a comprehensive political solution that gives voice to the Syrian people and transforms Syria from a tragic country that has been living in conditions of civil war for a long time now, into a peaceful and prospering country.
JOURNALIST: Two questions. One for the Greek Foreign Minister and the other for the Egyptian Foreign Minister.
The first question: In the meeting you will have tomorrow in the European Union, with your colleagues, will you discuss the issue of Syria, the issue of Palestine and the state of war or the war against terrorism that exists in Egypt? Are these the issues you will talk to your counterparts about?
The question for the Egyptian minister concerns the cooperation you referred to earlier between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus. Is this cooperation that will remain at the political level, or will it extend to other sectors – economic and other?
E. VENIZELOS: At the meeting tomorrow and the day after – an informal meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union, in Lithuania – we will obviously discuss the situation in Syria, the Middle East peace process and all the current international issues that, naturally, also concern the European Union. And it is very likely that U.S. Secretary of State Kerry will participate in our discussions on the second day.
As you know, we approach the issue of Syria first and foremost in the framework of international legality, as a member state of the UN, as a member state of the European Union, and as a member state of NATO – and of course within the framework of all our bilateral relations, which we respect. And we want things to evolve so that there can be peace and security, not just for the Syrian people, but for all the Arab peoples.
With regard to the Middle East peace process, we and the European Union are prepared to assist, providing our good offices so that there can be a political result in this process.
Finally, it is obvious that both Greece and the EU condemn any act of terrorism, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my abhorrence of today’s attack on the Egyptian Minister of Interior.
N. FAHMY: Regarding the cooperation between Greece, Egypt and Cyprus, there is already cooperation on the bilateral level. The Foreign Minister of Cyprus was here this past Monday. Today we have the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the Greek government. We are looking at the bilateral cooperation issues, and there is no problem if that cooperation evolves into trilateral cooperation, so that various issues and matters of shared interest can be resolved, not just in the political sector, but in all the sectors of cooperation between these countries.
JOURNALIST: A question for both ministers. Given that the relevant talks on the delimitation of maritime zones started many years ago, how concerned are you at the fact that they might provoke the ire of neighbouring countries, and I would like a bit more detail, perhaps, on the trilateral cooperation with Cyprus. Whether this cooperation will also concern maritime zones, or also issues of energy security and regional security in general.
N. FAHMY: There is a new spirit of cooperation between Greece and Egypt. As you can well understand, each country tries to secure its own interests. We are cooperating to promote our mutual interests, and we are not interested in whether some third countries feel that this cooperation is gradually expanding.
E. VENIZELOS: I must say that my answer is exactly the same. Egypt and Greece are determined to move ahead to the common benefit of both countries, of both peoples, and of both economies.
The framework that we accept is the framework of international law, of the International Law of the Sea. This does not constitute hostile intent towards any other country.
N. FAHMY: Mr. Minister, I thank you for honoring us with your presence and for all the very positive meetings you had today in Egypt.
E. VENIZELOS: I thank you too, and it will be a pleasure to welcome you to Athens on a reciprocal visit.
N. FAHMY: Thank you.
September 6, 2013