Joint Statement: Second Political
Consultations at the level
of Secretaries General of Israel,
Greece and Cyprus MFA’s
The second Trilateral Political Consultations at the
level of Secretaries General of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Israel,
Greece and Cyprus were held in Jerusalem on 16 January 2015 between Israeli
Minister of Foreign Affairs Director General, Ambassador Dore Gold, and his
counterparts from Greece and Cyprus, Secretary General Ambassador Dimitris
Paraskevopoulos and Permanent Secretary Ambassador Alexandros Zenon,
respectively.
The first Trilateral Political Consultations at the
level of Secretaries General were held in Athens on 12 November 2014.
The three parties examined regional and international
issues in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean in view of the importance
that they attribute to their enhanced bilateral ties and the desire to formalize
a trilateral regional partnership as a promoter of regional stability, security
and cooperation.
The three parties focused on the prospects for
cooperation in the fields of:
· Energy Development
· Immigration
· Fighting Terrorism
· Tourism
· Environment
· Water Management
· Research and Technology
They also discussed the trilateral
cooperation in a wide range of issues including search and rescue, civil
protection, economic cooperation, shipping, health and medicine, education,
agriculture and fisheries, conflict resolution, people-to-people contacts and
culture. The discussions reflected the common will to enhance even further the
partnership between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus in all fields.
The parties expressed concern for the proliferation of
terrorism on a regional and global level and the challenges faced by the
increased flow of immigrants. The three sides condemned all terrorist actions
and stressed the need for regional and international cooperation in confronting
this threat.
Director General Ambassador Dore Gold reiterated the
threats posed by the nuclear proliferation of Iran and its continued involvement
in terrorism in the region and globally.
Secretary General Ambassador Dimitris Paraskevopoulos,
from his part, stressed the need to comprehensively address the crucial issue of
current refugee flows from crisis regions and their humanitarian, social and
financial implications, as well as their root causes. He also stressed the
cardinal importance of all the states in the region to comply with agreed
international norms and practices, behaving responsibly and constructively in
order to promote regional stability and cooperation.
Permanent Secretary Ambassador Alexandros Zenon briefed
his counterparts on the negotiations process under the United Nations auspices
aiming at a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem,
based on international law and the relevant UN Security Council
Resolutions.
The three parties agreed to further promote trilateral
consultations and to expand their dialogue on all levels with the aim of
promoting mutual interests and contributing to regional peace, stability,
security and prosperity. They agreed to meet on a regular basis and to establish
a trilateral steering committee on the level of senior officials level of the
MFA’s to oversee the implementation of the issues discussed in the annual
trilateral Secretaries General meetings. They noted that the Heads of State of
Israel, Greece, and Cyprus intend to meet for their first Heads of
State/Government Trilateral meeting in Nicosia
