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- Ελληνικά
The 9th Trilateral Summit of Cyprus, Greece, Israel, headed by the President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, the Prime Minister of Greece Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Prime Minister of Israel Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu.
In joint statements after the Trilateral Summit, the three leaders highlighted the strategic importance of the relationship between their countries and the common will to further deepen it in all areas.
In his statements, the President of the Republic said, inter alia.
The convening of this meeting so soon after the start of my mandate and the elections in Greece is indicative of our trilateral relationship and our commitment to continue to strengthen this dynamic relationship."
He added that during their consultations they reviewed the progress made in many areas of cooperation, noting that they have reaffirmed the common will to strengthen these trilateral relations in areas such as energy, security, economy, diaspora, as well as in the area of emergency response, among others.
He added that during this summer the strength of friendship between the three countries was demonstrated by the mutual assistance they provided in extinguishing fires.
On the issue of energy, the President said: "We agreed that natural gas and renewable energy is a primary pillar of cooperation in the region, particularly in light of recent geographic developments and energy insecurity" that dictate the need for increased interconnectivity and alternative energy sources.
He also noted that they reaffirmed their strong commitment to the 3+1 cooperation mechanism with the US, and discussed possible expansion of the mechanism with other countries such as India.
The President also noted that the trilateral cooperation is not directed against any other country, but is open to all countries that share the same principles.
Referring to the Cyprus issue, President Christodoulides said he briefed on his initiatives aimed at resuming negotiations for a comprehensive solution on the basis of the agreed UN framework and thanked Greece and Israel for their full support.
Finally, President Christodoulides announced that the next Cyprus, Greece, Israel Trilateral Summit will take place next year.
For his part, the Israeli Prime Minister said, inter alia, that relations between the three have flourished since the establishment of the trilateral cooperation mechanism.
He added that we are now seeing hundreds of thousands of visitors from Israel visiting Cyprus and Greece and noted that there are also investments between these countries and close cooperation in various fields.
He also said that today they discussed, among other things, trilateral cooperation on issues such as natural gas, electricity interconnection and fighting fires.
He noted that they discussed ways of cooperation on how Israel will export its natural gas and Cyprus and Greece should do the same. And these decisions should be made in three to six months, he said.
Netanyahu also said they discussed mechanisms for cooperation on the electrical interconnection, and said they discussed issues of harnessing technology to fight fires.
He added that on counter-terrorism issues, the three governments remain committed to close cooperation.
He said they also discussed expanding trilateral cooperation with India.
In addition, Netanyahu said that Israel's market in terms of dairy products from abroad will be opened very soon and exports from Cyprus and Greece will be possible.
Finally, he said that he looked forward to the next Trilateral Summit, which will take place in Israel.
For his part, the Greek Prime Minister said, among other things, that the close cooperation between the three countries, which has proved to be extremely durable, was reaffirmed.
He added that trilateral cooperation has been successful in various areas of common interest, and that they discussed its expansion, for example with India, noting that the Prime Minister of India may be invited to participate in the next Trilateral Summit.
Mitsotakis also said that discussions focused on the issue of energy and the significant investments in this sector in the three countries.
He added that there is close cooperation in the field of civil protection and thanked the Governments of Cyprus and Israel for their assistance in extinguishing the fires in Greece.
He said that during their meeting they discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation in the field of trade.
(PM/EP/SX)
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