[/QUOTE]
Cyprus, Greece and Egypt expressed their concern and condemned any unilateral actions that violate the sovereignty of any sovereignty, sovereignty, sovereign rights and territorial integrity of any country in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region and stressed that it is essential for all countries to respect international law, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and all other relevant agreements.
The three countries' Defence Ministers Charalambos Petridis, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and General Mohamed Zaki met on Monday in Cairo and a joint communiqué issued after the trilateral meeting said that the Defence Ministers reviewed the progress of cooperation on defence and security issues and reaffirmed their common will and determination to further develop coordination, cooperation and joint efforts to enhance security and stability as well as to support the creation of an environment in the Eastern Mediterranean conducive to the development of prosperity of the countries and their peoples.
The communiqué also stated that the Defence Ministers also reviewed developments and perspectives on security and strategic conditions in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean as well as tensions affecting the security and stability of the wider region.
They agreed on a common vision that supports the growing strategic importance of the Eastern Mediterranean in terms of energy security, transport and international maritime trade routes and stressed, according to the joint communiqué, the importance of their cooperation to enhance security of energy supply, providing an additional source of supply for Europe.
At the same time, the three Ministers expressed their deep concern about the resurgence of terrorist organisations and their activity in many hotspots of conflict and tension in the Middle East and in the Sahel of Africa.
At the same time, they agreed that smuggling in all its forms, illegal migration and trafficking in human beings remain a constant challenge.
Furthermore, the communiqué said, the phenomenon of mercenaries, the transfer of foreign fighters and the support of armed militias pose a dangerous threat to regional and international peace and security and necessitate the need for further cooperation and coordination.
In addition, the PSCs expressed satisfaction with the efforts made by the Armed Forces of their countries to implement the joint training programmes and welcomed the participation of friendly countries in these exercises, which are a cornerstone for coordination and integration of capabilities to enhance regional peace, security and stability.
At the same time, they stressed the importance of international cooperation on international security issues and mitigating global polarization and the immediate end of armed conflicts, and agreed to intensify communication, consultations, information sharing, assessments and coordination of joint efforts to address the scale of military challenges and security threats at the regional level.
The next trilateral meeting of the Ministers of Defence of Egypt, Greece and Cyprus will be held in Greece in 2023.
In a brief statement, Cyprus' Minister of Defence said that the three countries have long-standing and sincere relations that are being strengthened not only in the fields of security and defence but also in areas related to energy and trade. He added that today they had the opportunity to discuss issues related to the course of cooperation and ways to enhance it and developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region.
He spoke of excellent relations between the three countries and further cooperation always with respect to international law and expressed confidence that hard work will be done to implement the goals set for the next trilateral meeting.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence, in the framework of his visit, Petridis held a bilateral meeting with the Egyptian Minister of Defence, General Mohamed Zaki, where they discussed issues of bilateral and regional interest with emphasis on defence cooperation between our countries.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
