Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, with talks reportedly focusing on regional developments, and especially the situation in Gaza, according to a press release issued by the former’s office.
According to sources in Athens, the Greek leader praised the efforts and recent proposal by Cairo to achieve a ceasefire in the war-torn enclave, while both sides exchanged views over cooperation and coordination in various bilateral and regional issues and initiatives.
Greece and Egypt have significantly boosted bilateral ties and cooperation over recent years, especially since 2019, among others agreeing over a near-total delimitation of maritime zones between them in the eastern Mediterranean. Athens has also keenly championed Egyptian interests at the EU level and sought cooperation from Cairo vis-a-vis strife-plagued Libya.
A recent “hiccup” in relations, in the wake of an Egyptian appeals court decision posing a significant and unprecedented existential threat to the continued presence of the historic St. Catherine’s of the Sinai Monastery as a Greek Orthodox institution, was quickly followed by a flurry of diplomatic contacts and expressed volition by both sides to find a lasting solution in favor of the venerable spiritual and cultural entity.
