AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, and
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a trilateral summit on Wednesday
in Athens.
اضافة اعلان
The summit, convening for the third time, focused on
the importance of the deep-rooted ties and partnership between the three
countries, leading to expanding cooperation prospects across all sectors, and contributing
to achieving peace and enhancing security and stability in the region and
beyond, according to a
Royal Court statement.
The summit covered means of boosting trilateral
cooperation in trade, investments, water, energy, agriculture, ICT,
environment,
and tourism, as well as overcoming the
COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the summit covered Jordan’s relations
with the European Union, the refugees and migration crises, as well as efforts
to reach political solutions to regional crises.
At the beginning of the summit, His Majesty expressed
appreciation of the warm welcome at Athens, and congratulated Prime Minister
Mitsotakis on the 200th anniversary of his country’s independence.
The King noted the importance of the trilateral summit
as an expanding partnership since the first summit in 2018, which is an
opportunity to maintain friendly relations, enhance cooperation and follow up
on the two previous summits.
“COVID was a challenge that really reminded us how
interconnected our nations are, and of the importance to enhance the
cooperation,” His Majesty said.
“We look forward to seeing how we as three countries
could tap into many opportunities, whether it is trade, security, tourism,
energy, agriculture, water, the environment, healthcare, investment, and ICT,
as well as what I really think has a relationship between our three countries,
in culture and education,” the King added.
“We are nations that share the Eastern Mediterranean.
And I think that we will continue to play a vital role in looking at wider
cooperation, not only in the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, but also global
cooperation because there is so much potential,” His Majesty continued.
The King stressed the importance of capitalising on
the special partnership with Iraq and Egypt, noting that Jordan recently held
the fourth trilateral summit with these two countries.
“I hope that these meetings today will allow us to
also discuss those two countries as part of the greater regional integration,”
His Majesty said.
The King also stressed the important role of Cyprus
and Greece in the European Union, adding that Cyprus and Greece have always
spoken on behalf of Jordan before other EU members.
On the Palestinian issue and the latest escalation,
His Majesty said: “We can discuss the role that we can all play in trying to
bring peoples together and to relaunch peace negotiations.”
The King pointed to discussions with the Cypriot and
Greek governments on Jordan’s role in safeguarding Islamic holy sites in
Jerusalem and the role of Christianity in Jerusalem and in the West Bank.
For his part, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
welcomed His Majesty and the Cypriot president, noting the importance of this
year to Greece and Jordan, as Greece celebrates the 200th anniversary of its
War of Independence, and Jordan celebrates its centennial.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis noted the progress all three
countries made within the trilateral framework, stressing the importance of
promoting this partnership in economy and security, especially in light of the
ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic on various sectors.
The Greek prime minister highlighted the summit’s
agenda, which includes means to bolster Jordan’s partnership with the European
Union, in addition to the latest regional and Euro-Mediterranean developments,
noting the summit’s role in enhancing stability and security, and achieving
peace in the region.
Cypriot President Anastasiades commended the convening
of the third trilateral summit, saying it reflects keenness on enhancing the
partnership between the three countries, especially in culture, trade, and
digital transformation.
President Anastasiades said the summit is covering the
recent developments in the Middle East and the situation in Iraq, Libya, Syria
and Cyprus, emphasising the importance of cooperation among the three countries
in enhancing security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and
continuing efforts to combat terrorism and extremism within the Aqaba Process
initiative, launched by His Majesty.
He also stressed Cyprus’ and Greece’s interest in
strengthening the European Union’s partnership with Jordan within the Kingdom’s
priority sectors, and thanked the King for Jordan’s balanced position on the
Cyprus issue.
Also
on Wednesday in Athens, King Abdullah held a one-on-one meeting with Prime
Minister Mitsotakis covering means of stepping up bilateral cooperation across
all fields. The Greek premier announced that his country will provide Jordan
with 150,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses, as part of joint efforts to counter the
pandemic.
His Majesty also
met with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and
discussed with her means of enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation in
various sectors.
King
Abdullah reaffirmed the deep-rooted historical relations between the two
countries, signified by the long history of joint action on many issues and
challenges, including the recent issues of COVID-19 and refugees.
“The
message that I take away from leaving your lovely country is that we have a lot
of work to do together, and I know that the future is extremely encouraging,”
His Majesty said.
His
Majesty and the Greek president discussed regional developments, foremost of
which is the Palestinian issue, with the King reiterating the need to galvanise
an active international role towards reaching just and comprehensive peace, on
the basis of the two-state solution, guaranteeing the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as
its capital.
King
Abdullah also separately met with Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades and
discussed means of bolstering bilateral cooperation across various fields.
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