It is my great pleasure to be here today and join you at this important Panel Discussion, in the framework of the annual AHEPA Supreme Convention. I would like to seize this opportunity to express my wholehearted gratitude for receiving the 2021 AHEPA Pericles award. It is for me, ladies and gentlemen, a great honour indeed. Our discussion today touches upon an issue of great importance to Greece, namely the trilateral relations in our region. And I am happy to address this issue in the presence of my very good friend and colleague Nikos Christodoulidis and of course Israel, another friendly country, is here. Greece has long been striving for the establishment of a regional security architecture, by means always of dialogue and cooperation. To this end, we are always keen to encourage and promote multilateral cooperation and joint action in the Eastern Mediterranean. This, with countries willing, but also with countries respectful of International Law. So we, Greece and Cyprus, undertook an important common initiative: Since 2013 we have created a vibrant network of trilateral cooperation mechanisms in the region, which -I have to say- acquired significant momentum over the years. This network of cooperation mechanisms includes a big number of countries in the region; Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, just to name a few of them. At the same time, it has expanded to include other countries beyond our immediate region, the USA or Iraq. In particular, I want to emphasize the 3+1 mechanism that Greece-Cyprus-Israel plus the USA have established; This constitutes a significant tool to promote our common interests in our broader region. Within the framework of these schemes of cooperation, a lot of sectoral synergies have been established in a number of fields. Security, energy, Research and Development, Innovation, food security, the blue economy, the green economy. Going one step further, we have started to extend and upgrade this approach by promoting a multilateral cooperation scheme, with more countries of the region. A first step was the Philia Forum, here in Athens, a few months ago with the participation of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Bahrain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A real bridge from South to North, to the European Union. In this meeting, the participant countries reiterated their common adherence to our common ground, to our common understanding; International Law International Law of the Sea. They stressed their strong commitment to fundamental principles enshrined, including the respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the peaceful resolution of differences. Principles that will continue guiding our work and take us further ahead. The Covid-19 pandemic poses unprecedented challenges as an enormous impact on our social, economic and healthcare systems; Its impact makes us acknowledge that the post-COVID recovery should be synonymous with cooperation, should be synonymous with solidarity. And in this regard, coordinated efforts are the best paths to a sustainable economic recovery for all. To sum up, the above-mentioned trilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms are the core aim of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in our region; They promote a positive agenda which can contribute to the easing of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and if, allow me to say, beyond the Mediterranean area. We believe that, at the end of the day, everybody - I repeat, everybody- and I am including Turkey in this, will realize that anachronistic methods and aims have nothing to do with the 21st century’s true needs of our societies and of our people.
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