We, Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus, Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt and Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, cognizant of the immense and ever-growing challenges to the stability, security and prosperity of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the wider region and aware of the need for a constant and concerted collective response, have met in Nicosia, Cyprus, on April 29th, 2015 for the second Cyprus-Egypt-Greece Trilateral Summit, to effectively address these challenges and to continue nurturing our tripartite cooperation, building on the significant progress achieved so far.
This 2nd Trilateral Summit further strengthens our well-established tripartite partnership promoting peace, stability, security and prosperity and cooperation in all fields in the Eastern Mediterranean (political, economic, trade, culture, tourism). In this respect, we reiterated our countries’ common position as reflected in the trilateral summit Cairo Declaration of November 8th 2014. This framework serves as a model for a broader regional dialogue, including through close coordination and cooperation in the framework of multilateral fora, as well as through efforts to further promote relations between the EU and the Arab world.
We acknowledge the importance of the Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation for the countries of the region. In particular, we fully support the efforts of the Union for the Mediterranean towards growth and socio-economic development.
We emphasize and re-affirm our previous commitment to mobilize all our capabilities to effectively promote common values and interests. This tripartite consultation mechanism, which meets regularly at various levels, aims at working towards unleashing the full potential of our region to the benefit of the peoples of our three countries and of the whole region.
The scourge of international terrorism threatens the Middle East, North Africa, the Sahel region and sub-Saharan Africa, the Gulf and Europe. This universal threat requires a comprehensive, coordinated and collective response by the international community. We strongly condemn all terrorist actions and call upon all states to actively and effectively confront this menace and to step up cooperation on security matters with a view to countering extremist groups and exposing their political and financial supporters. We take note of the announcement at the latest Summit of the League of Arab States held in Sharm Elsheikh, Egypt 28-29 March 2015 on the formation of an Arab Rapid Reaction Force to effectively tackle the terrorist threat.
We have agreed to step up cooperation on counter-terrorism, defence/security and discussing relevant information to jointly combat against terrorism and violent extremism and to promote regional security, long-term stability and prosperity.
We are encouraged by the recent gains of the Iraqi forces in Iraq with the support of the anti-ISIL international coalition; it appears though that significant challenges remain, taking into consideration ISIL’s ability to recruit additional fighters and its latest counter-attacks. With regard to Syria, we continue to support the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy de Mistura for a new political process in Syria and to encourage collective action under the United Nations auspices on the basis of Security Council Resolution 2174 and 2178. We also emphasize the need to continue supporting regional countries which suffer from the spill-over effects of this crisis and extend our support to the Egyptian efforts to facilitate consensus among the Syrian opposition groups in the view of promoting a political solution in the Syrian crisis according to the Geneva Communiqué.
We are gravely concerned over the deterioration of the security situation in Libya and the growing terrorist threat therein also affecting security and stability in neighbouring countries. Therefore, we strongly support the implementation of a counter-terrorist strategy in parallel to the political dialogue and reconciliation process and the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular 2213 and 2214. We express our support for the work of the UNSG Special Representative for Libya Bernardino León and at the same time, we reaffirm our position supporting the legitimate institutions, including the current government in El-Beida formed by the House of Representatives until the formation of a national unity government.
The deteriorating situation in Yemen threatens to destabilize the Gulf area, the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the wider Middle East. We express our strong support for the legitimate government of Yemen and for the preservation of its unity and territorial integrity. UN-led efforts to resume inclusive negotiations without preconditions are the only way forward and we welcome the efforts by the Gulf Cooperation Council to complement UN initiatives. All parties must fully implement respective UNSC resolutions, in particular UNSC RES 2201 of 15 February 2015 and RES 2216 of 14 April 2015. We stress the need to address with determination the threat of extremist and terrorist groups present in Yemen. At the same time, all parties must ensure the protection of civilians and allow unrestricted access to humanitarian aid for the civilian population.
We call for the realization of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace settlement in the Middle East based on the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, the establishment of a sovereign, viable and contiguous Palestinian state on the territories occupied since 4 June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, and living in peace and security with all its neighbors, in accordance with the positions and initiatives taken by the European Union and the Arab League. Such a settlement remains the only guarantee to avoid the recurrence of innocent civilian deaths, destruction and heightening tension. We strongly support the resumption of negotiations to achieve a comprehensive settlement on the basis of the two-state solution. In this context we commend Egypt’s continuous efforts to reach a durable ceasefire in Gaza and to bring peace to the Middle East.
The increase of the migratory fluxes constitutes a major challenge for our countries. We agree to mobilize all efforts at our disposal to prevent further loss of life at sea and to tackle the root causes of the human tragedy that we are facing, in cooperation with the countries of origin and transit.
We recognize that the discovery of important hydrocarbon reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean can serve as a catalyst for regional cooperation. We stress that this cooperation would be better served through the adherence by the countries of the region to well established principles of international Law. In this respect, we emphasize the universal character of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and decide to proceed expeditiously with our negotiations on the delimitation of our maritime zones, where it is not yet done.
We also call for a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Cyprus problem that will reunify the island in accordance with international law, including the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Such a settlement would not only benefit the people of Cyprus as a whole, but would also significantly contribute to the stability and peace in the region. We welcome the enhanced possibility for the resumption of negotiations and the implementation of confidence building measures.
We agreed to explore all possibilities to further enhance the synergies among our economies, with a view to create a more positive economic environment for growth, to tackle the challenges of a rapidly changing international economic situation and to jointly benefit from important opportunities arising in our region.
Recognizing that tourism and the maritime industry are vital components of the economy of all three countries and following the signature on 29.10.2014 of the Tripartite Memorandum on cooperation in the field of tourism among Cyprus, Greece and Egypt, we agreed to continue working closely together with a view to facilitating and enhancing cooperation on common projects, with the involvement of state and private actors, including developing joint tourism packages and cruises, enhancing the maritime connection between the three countries for the transfer of both cargo and passengers and initiating cooperation on maritime education and training.
Our three countries, convinced of the strategic nature of this trilateral mechanism, will continue working closely towards unleashing the full potential of their cooperation, to the benefit of their peoples and the wider region.
April 30, 2015