Political Consultations between Greece and Israel
and
Trilateral Political Consultations between Greece, Israel and Cyprus

Political consultations at the level of Secretaries General of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Greece and Israel were held in Athens on 12 November 2014 between Secretary General, Ambassador Anastassis Mitsialis, and his counterpart Director General, Ambassador Nissim Ben Shitrit.

The two sides reviewed progress achieved in their bilateral relations in various fields of cooperation since the 1st High Level Cooperation Council of 8 October 2013 and discussed the preparation of a second G-2-G to be held in Athens in 2015, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Greece and Israel. They confirmed their willingness to further enhance their rapidly growing economic relations to reflect the excellent level of bilateral political relations. It was therefore agreed that acceleration of cooperation should be promoted in fields such as trade, tourism, industrial research and development, water technologies, environmental protection and agriculture. Greece and Israel also confirmed their common interest in pursuing cooperation in the crucial field of energy.

The two sides also discussed their cooperation in multilateral fora and exchanged views on regional and international issues including developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, as well as the terrorist threat at regional and global level.

Ambassador A. Mitsialis and Ambassador N. Ben Shitrit were subsequently joined by their Cypriot counterpart, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Ambassador Alexandros Zenon, for a session of trilateral political consultations. The three sides agreed to further promote trilateral political consultations and expand dialogue to all levels, with a view to contributing to the consolidation of regional peace, stability, security and prosperity. They confirmed their willingness to promote their economic relations and to strengthen their cooperation in the field of energy, including by building on the trilateral Memorandum of Understanding signed in Nicosia on 8 August 2013 by the Ministers of Energy of Greece, Israel and Cyprus.

The three sides discussed regional and international issues in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, expressed concern for illegal actions and provocations in the sea waters of the Eastern Mediterranean in violation of international law and expressed concern for the proliferation of terrorism at regional and global level.

The three sides agreed that they should meet on a regular basis to further discuss these issues and enhance their cooperation. In this respect the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Evangelos Venizelos, invited the Foreign Minister of the State of Israel, Mr. Avigdor Liberman and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Ioannis Kasoulides, to a trilateral meeting to be held in Athens in the next few weeks.