Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France-Dendias: Our strategy is based on International Law

The message that “the strategic relationship between our countries is based on the solid foundation of our common principles, such as respect for International Law, the Law of the Sea, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition of the use of force, the prohibition of the threat of its use “Violence and respect for the sovereignty and sovereign rights of all states,” said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias during a press conference with the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and France.

Emphasizing the importance of the Quartet, he said that the meeting proves the existence of a huge dynamic that characterizes the relations between the four countries and assessed that it can “even in view of the important opportunity provided by the French EU Presidency, which 2022, to create another reality in the region, serving the principles of stability, peace and prosperity of the peoples “.

The Foreign Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and France discussed the common challenges and opportunities in the wider region, in the Eastern Mediterranean, in the Middle East, in the Sahel, as well as the deepening of their cooperation in strategic areas such as energy. the economy, tourism, interconnection. They also discussed issues such as the spread of terrorism in Africa, immigration, access to basic goods such as Nile water.

Nikos Dendias remarked that it is unfortunate that although almost two years have passed since his previous meeting in Cairo, the issues are still topical. “The challenges we face in the Aegean, in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Libya are the same and the common denominator of most of them remains Turkey. It continues to threaten Greece with war and to violate our sovereignty and sovereign rights, to illegally occupy the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, to violate the rights in the sea zones, to support the Muslim Brotherhood. He gave the example of the instrumentalization of immigration, which now finds imitators in Belarus. “And it maintains military forces and mercenaries in Libya and insists on the non-existent and illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum,” he said.

At the same time, he clarified that today’s meeting is not a meeting against Turkey. In particular, addressing Turkey, he said that “we want good relations and a constructive dialogue, but of course always in the context of International Law and the International Law of the Sea.” He emphasized that the ” of the UN Law on the Sea, “something that will open new horizons in our relations.” However, Nikos Dendias noticed that this today seems like a distant dream. “We still have the threat of war, the occupation, the export of mercenaries, the export of drones, human rights violations and the imprisonment of journalists,” he added.

At the same time, he expressed the belief that solidarity between the countries of the region is necessary in order to meet the common challenges for peace, stability and prosperity.

Finally, Nikos Dendias expressed Greece’s solidarity with France, Egypt and Cyprus and expressed our country’s gratitude to these countries for their support during the crisis last summer.