President Tassoulas receives Egyptian President el-Sisi

The President of the Hellenic Republic Constantine Tassoulas on Wednesday received the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who arrived in Athens at 10:15 and was welcomed by Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.

During the meeting, Tassoulas said that the centuries-long relationship between Greece and Egypt is characterised by relations of frienship and cooperation. These good neighbourly relations are the essence of all the principles and the provisions of the UN Charter, in which for decades but also today, humanity has invested much hope. However, this exemplary relationship has still room for improvement, he added.

"Seeing the representatives of the governments of the two countries and being aware of the next meetings you will have at the Prime Minister's office, I think that this room for improvement covers a wide range, a wide range of topics, such as security, energy, education, culture and it is worthwhile to intensify all these and make our relationship even more interesting, even more fruitful," he said. "Another issue worth mentioning is the situation in our wider region, in our neighbourhood, which raises a lot of concern and which I know is of interest to your country, which is very influential in this region of the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, in Africa, is interested in the prevalence of peace, is interested in the return of hostages, as is our country. It is also interested in the ceasefire and all these assumptions, all these parameters are worth including in an exchange of views to see how our countries, which are committed to the principles of peaceful dialogue and peaceful coexistence, can contribute in this direction in our wider region," he said.

On his part, the Egyptian president thanked Tassoulas for his reception and noted that he is visiting Greece for fifth time, something that proves the good relations between the two countries.

President el-Sisi said that he supports peace and that the coordinaton between Egypt and Greece aims at stability in the region, while adding that there is still room for improvement in the two countries' relations.

He also referred to the issue of Gaza, saying that efforts are being made for a ceasefire and the return of the hostages, while on the issue of migration he said that there are 9 million people who want to leave Gaza and go to Egypt. "We want the Palestinians to stay in the Gaza Strip," he said.

Since 2016, Egypt has not been a bridge for migrants to leave for Europe, Al-Sisi added, adding that "this for us is a moral and humanitarian issue. We don't want to create a problem for our European partners. We call for dealing with illegal migration but legal migration also needs coordination," the Egyptian president continued. "Both we and Greece are interested in stability," Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi concluded.