Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas held talks in Cairo on Monday with Egyptian Prime Minister Isam Sharaf and his Egyptian counterpart Nabil Al-Arabi, focusing on bilateral issues between Greece and Egypt, regional developments, with emphasis on Libya and mainly how Greece can support Egypt during its transitional period, also following the Revolution on January 25.
The meetings were held in an excellent climate, according to relevant diplomatic sources, while during his meeting with the Egyptian prime minister, Droutsas conveyed personal warm greetings from Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.
In a press conference given by the two foreign ministers after their meeting, the head of Egyptian diplomacy spoke of the longstanding relations between the two countries. He referred to longterm cooperation between Greece and Egypt and expressed gratitude to the Greek side for its contribution to the transfer of Egyptian citizens with Greek ships from Libya to Egypt, during the first days of the crisis that broke out in Libya.
On his part, the Greek minister termed his talks with his counterpart and the Egyptian prime minister "extremely interesting", since an exchange of views took place on a series of main issues but mainly the possibility was provided for the two countries to proceed to the new phase of the very close relations between them, given that "Egypt remains an important partner in the region."
The foreign minister also met with the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa. Immediately afterwards, Droutsas reiterated Greece's steadfast position on the finding of a political solution to the crisis in Libya, for the solution to which the role that the Arab League can play is considerable.
Droutsas also stressed Greece's steadfast close relations with the Arab countries with which it will continue to cooperate closely for the finding of a political solution in the normalisation of the crisis in Libya.
In another development, the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodoros II expressed "a big thank you to Greece, particularly in these difficult moments that the Alexandrian Church and Hellenism of the Country of the Nile is experiencing," during his meeting with Droutsas here on Monday afternoon.
In parallel, in a meeting he had with the President of the Greek Community in Cairo Christos Kavalis, the Greek foreign minister said that he is by the side of the Greek community.
source: ANA
