The Foreign Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, France and Italy travelled to Cairo on Wednesday morning to participate in a five-sided meeting along with the Foreign Minister of Egypt.
According to the Greek MFA, the meeting will focus on recent developments in Libya and security issues in the Eastern Mediterranean, while the Cypriot MFA further added that evaluating the contemporary challenges in the region on the basis of international law, dealing with Turkey’s illegal moves in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone and the situation in Syria, will also be on the table.
The multilateral meeting comes in a rather crucial moment for the countries to secure stability in the volatile region.
The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed in November and December, a maritime borders and defence agreement correspondingly, with the UN-backed government of Libya, in an effort to cement his country’s interest in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The agreement was slammed by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt, which saw their territorial waters being ignored by Turkey’s maximalist goals in the region.
Ankara announced on Sunday that it has started deploying troops in Libya, after the head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, requested Turkey’s support to confront the rival forces of General Khalifa Haftar.
Foreign Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Italy to meet in Cairo
EPA-EFE/SIMELA PANTZARTZI
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (L) during joint statements following a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, 30 July 2019.
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