The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Ayman Al Safadi, and the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, George Katrougalos, met today in Nicosia to review the progress made and to prepare for the Second Trilateral Summit, to be held in Jordan in the first half of 2019.
The Trilateral partnership, launched in 2016 and established officially during the first Summit in Nicosia, in January 2018, is recognised by the three countries as an important tool that contributes in a practical and result oriented manner to the collective efforts to achieve our common goal of peace, security and prosperity in our region. Furthermore, the trilateral mechanism creates synergies in areas of mutual interest and prepares the ground for mutual understanding and enhanced regional cooperation.
In this context, the Ministers engaged in a thorough exchange of views on a number of regional and international issues, including the efforts to end the stalemate in the Middle East Peace Process on the basis of two-state solution, developments in Syria, migration, combating terrorism and security, including energy security. They expressed their satisfaction for the common approach and their peaceful commitment to further enhance cooperation and coordination, in order to address the challenges of our region.
The Ministers also discussed the latest developments on the Cyprus problem. Stronger and growing EU-Jordan relations were also discussed in light of the recent visit of His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al- Hussein to Brussels.
The Ministers reviewed the progress achieved in the fields endorsed by the Leaders during the first Trilateral Summit namely: renewable energy resources and energy efficiency, management of water resources, agriculture, aquaculture, tourism, transport and merchant shipping, protection of antiquities and health. They expressed their commitment to intensify cooperation in these fields, while exploring opportunities for cooperation in other fields of mutual interest.
Recognising the added value and the growing momentum of the trilateral mechanism the Ministers also discussed further ways to improve its effectiveness, enhance coordination and ensure that both the mechanism’s potential and momentum are fully exploited and developed. In this context, they decided to elaborate further on the idea of establishing a Permanent Secretariat that Cyprus has offered to host, in order to present it at the forthcoming Summit.
December 19, 2018