Egyptian–Greek relations refer to bilateral relations between Egypt and Greece. Due to the strong cultural and historical ties between the two nations, Egypt and Greece today enjoy friendly relations. Modern diplomatic relations between the two countries were established after Greece gained its independence in 1821, and are today regarded as cordial. Both countries are members and partners in several international organizations such as UN, IMF, OSCE, and the Union for the Mediterranean, among others.
History
Due to the strong cultural and historical ties between the two nations, from ancient to modern times, Egypt and Greece today enjoy warm diplomatic relations and consider each other a friendly nation. Egypt has had a sizable Greek community, mostly centered on Alexandria, which is today Egypt's second largest city and also the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. In the modern era, the two countries enjoy very good and warm diplomatic relations since 1833 and especially after the Greek War of Independence, and are developing on all fronts, with several trade, tourism, economic and defense cooperation agreements signed by the governments and heads of states in their regular meetings. Greece is, today, Egypt's 6th largest foreign investor. In 2019, archaeologists reported that in two large tombs at Pylos, they found items, including a golden pendant depicting the head of the Egyptian goddessHathor, which show that Pylos, had trading connections, previously unknown, with Egypt and the Near East around 1500 B.C.E.
Cooperation
The two states cooperate in the fields of trade, maritime, energy, culture and tourism, with Greece being the 4th largest European investor in Egypt, with over 208 Greek companies being active in the Egyptian market, while Egypt is Greece's 6th biggest trading partner.
Greek Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos paid an official visit to Egypt on 5 September 2014, in an effort to bolster the relations between the two countries. In Cairo, Venizelos met with the government officials and discussed various matters of mutual interests, such as foreign investments to the country, trade, and shared opinions about the political situation in the Middle East, which concerns and affects both countries, as well tackling matters of mutual interest such as defining the EEZ boundaries between the two countries, and boosting further the cooperation between the two governments in international organizations and forums.
Tripartite summits
2014 tripartite summit in Cairo between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece
Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cypriot PresidentNicos Anastasiades, and Greek Prime MinisterAntonis Samaras held a tripartite summit in Cairo at 8 November 2014, where the leaders of the three countries tackled the ongoing issues in the region of Middle East and the East Mediterranean Sea, and the three heads of governments agreed to intensify the cooperation between the three countries in economy, security, tourism and energy, as well as defining the common maritime borders and the EEZ in the Mediterranean Sea. In the Cairo Summit, the governments of Greece and Cyprus condemned the terrorist attacks in Egyptian territory and the Mount Sinai, expressed political support to the Egyptian government, and agreed on mutual support between the three countries in international organizations and forums, with Greece and Cyprus advocating Egypt's positions in the European Union. El-Sisi, Anastasiades and Samaras agreed to further encourage the foreign investments to the Egyptian economy and infrastructure, which suffered by the uprisings of Arab Spring, and to participate in the 2015 Cairo Economic Conference.
2015 tripartite summit in Nicosia between Cyprus, Egypt and Greece
In less than half a year since the first tripartite Summit, a new high-level Summit was held at Nicosia, at 29 April 2015, between the heads of the governments of Cyprus, Egypt and Greece. In the Nicosia Summit, the Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades, the Egyptian presidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, confirmed the will for bolstering further the cooperation between the three countries, and agreed on further cooperation in matters concerning the international organizations, as well as between the three countries. Among the matters discussed are the development of hydrocarbon reserves in Eastern Mediterranean, along the maritime border between both countries in their Exclusive Economic Zones.
The President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos paid an official visit to Egypt on 24 April 2015, in a bid for strengthening Greek-Egyptian relations, and intensifying the cooperation between the governments of the two countries, and tackle matters of mutual interest, such as the political situation in the Middle East and the illegal immigration which concerns both countries, as well as defining the maritime boundaries between the two countries.
