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Egypt, Cyprus Agree to Enhance Cooperation in Energy, Defense

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (EPA)
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (EPA)
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Egypt, Cyprus Agree to Enhance Cooperation in Energy, Defense

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (EPA)
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (EPA)

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides affirmed his country's endeavor to strengthen relations with Egypt in energy, tourism, and defense.

Christodoulides announced Tuesday plans to visit Cairo soon to meet his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, saying Egypt would be his second foreign trip after Greece.

Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus are in an expanded tripartite cooperation mechanism that includes the military and political fields and the coordination of interests in the eastern Mediterranean, which grew after natural gas discoveries in the East Mediterranean.

In an interview with al-Qahera News channel Tuesday, the Cypriot president said he looks forward to visiting Egypt to discuss several vital files related to bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them.

He affirmed that his country has a role in supporting European-Egyptian relations.

Christodoulides said that his upcoming meeting with Sisi would touch on regional and international issues, namely the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which would allow for more rapprochement between Cairo and Nicosia.

The president added that he would come to Egypt with a comprehensive agenda on bilateral relations, energy files, and the East Mediterranean, noting that there are suitable energy reserves in the region, providing development opportunities.

The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum was established on an Egyptian initiative, which was put forward during the Crete summit, between the leaders of Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece, in October 2018.

The forum's charter entered into force in March 2021 with the membership of the founders: Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, and Jordan. Palestine and France joined it later, and the US entered as an observer. Representatives of the World Bank and the European Union also joined the forum.

The Cypriot president expressed his aspiration to establish the permanent secretariat of the tripartite mechanism that includes Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece.

Cyprus hosted the tripartite summit of the Tripartite Cooperation Mechanism three times, and since 2014, nine meetings have been held periodically.

Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece have exchanged visits on several political, economic, and military levels over the past years.

After a meeting of defense ministers last year, the three countries agreed to support cooperation in the defense and security fields to face challenges and support stability in East Mediterranean.

The Cypriot president praised the reform process in Egypt, appreciating efforts to restore Egypt's pioneering and pivotal role and the "unprecedented" reforms Sisi is carrying out for the benefit of the Egyptians.

Christodoulides was sworn in as President of Cyprus at the end of February after winning the presidential elections.

The Egyptian president called his Cypriot counterpart, congratulating him on winning the presidential elections.

He said in an official statement that the Egyptian-Cypriot friendship is based on shared values and mutual interests, relying on a rich and diverse legacy of human and civilization exchange.

The Egyptian president expressed his aspiration for the continued development and strengthening of the strategic partnership between the two countries in a way that serves the aspirations of the two peoples and contributes to achieving stability, security, development, and prosperity.

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Arab World

Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.