The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel meet in Nicosia on Tuesday, in the 4th trilateral meeting to discuss regional issues, energy cooperation between the countries and the East Med gas pipeline. President Nikos Amastasiades, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the geo-strategic cooperation. However, despite the good atmosphere, the Israeli PM cut short his visit to Cyprus due to the announcement by US President Donal trump on the Iran deal on Tuesday afternoon.
The Iran deal was one of the issues the three leaders discussed.
PM Netanyahu at #CYGRIL summit: The regime in Tehran calls daily for the elimination of Israel from the face of the earth & it practices unmitigated aggression against us and against anyone else in the region…. It is in the interest of everyone to prevent #Iran's aggression. pic.twitter.com/7p7t8KIQNA
— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) May 8, 2018
“The Prime Minister of Israel has expressed his concerns about Iran’s missile tests, but a possible abolition of the agreement on Iran’s nuclear capacity may lead to destabilization,” noted Greek PM Tsipras.
The three leader want to push ahead with the East Med that will supply east Mediterranean gas to Europe as the continent seeks to diversify its energy supply.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the East Med pipeline a “very serious endeavor” that’s important for Europe, which is looking for new sources of energy.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the three countries aim to sign an agreement within this year to nudge the pipeline project forward. Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called the project “emblematic” of the cooperation between the three countries.
Tsipras called the EastMed pipeline project as “emblematic” for the cooperation between the three countries. Analyzing the features of the interconnectivity project in its evolution, he said “this project is not just about energy but the highest-level geo-strategic cooperation.”
He announced that the agreement will be signed within 2018.
In addition, the Greek prime minister said, they talked about cooperation on renewable energy sources and the environment, with a focus on marine pollution./span>
