D. AVRAMOPOULOS: It was a particular pleasure to meet again, today, with my good friend the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohamed Kamel Amr, with whom I had a very warm, substantial and sincere discussion.
Our relations are historical, age-old relations, and they are not just enduring. They are being strengthened through the prospects opening up for our peoples, for our two nations, following the major changes that have recently taken place, ushering in a new era in the wake of the revolution in Egypt.
We have known each other for three thousand years now, and we don’t need anyone to show us the path our relations should take. They are relations of love, solidarity, friendship – and they grow stronger with the passing of time.
Our relations extend into other sectors – energy, tourism, economy – while we are putting special emphasis on encouraging investments. Greek enterprises active in Egypt are already playing a major role in the country’s growth. In our talks, the subject of investments had a special place: we need to facilitate these economic and commercial transactions.
The thousands of Egyptians who are exercising their right to life and who live in a hospitable environment in Greece are a strong link in our friendly relations.
We were dismayed at an incident that took place a few days ago, and I had the opportunity to make clarifications and assure the Foreign Minister that Greece will not allow or tolerate such phenomena, because such phenomena are inexplicable – bizarre – in the country that gave birth to Democracy.
And the Greek authorities have already been instructed to take the necessary measures to ensure not only that there be no repetition of this incident, but also that those responsible be brought to justice.
We stand with respect and love at the side of the Egyptian citizens living in our country, just as the authorities here trust and love the Greeks living in this hospitable country.
I await the Minister’s visit to Athens, and I want him always to count on the support and presence of Greece and the Greek people in the great effort being made right now for a democratic, new and prosperous Egypt.
M. K. AMR: [translation of an unofficial interpretation into Greek, from Arabic] I would like to thank you warmly. It is the second time we have met. We also had the meeting of Egyptian President Morsi with his Greek counterpart.
This shows the strong ties that exist between our two countries. Today we talked about all the issues in our bilateral relations.
As you said, Mr. Minister, we talked about investments in Egypt and the interest of Greece in capitalizing on and extending these investments. I stressed that we will ensure the safety of these investments.
Should any problems arise, we want to resolve them. Moreover, the President of Egypt has shown interest in this issue and the Greek investments in Egypt.
Egypt respects and honors all the contracts it has signed with foreign enterprises, provided, of course, they are within the framework of the law.
As you said, there were some incidents in Greece. We talked about the issue of security and these incidents, which are isolated and do not reflect on either the Greek government or the Greek people.
We always monitor issues concerning our fellow Egyptians. The victim of the recent incident is under the care and protection of the Greek government. Popular opinion and all of Egypt are very interested in these issues.
I thank you for your invitation to visit Greece. I would also like to thank you for our meeting today, and I hope we meet again soon.
November 15, 2012