FM Commends Distinguished Ties between Egypt, Greece during Meeting with Counterpart

Badr Abdel Aati, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs praised the historical ties between Egypt and Greece and the distinguished political, economic, and cultural relations, which culminated last month in the elevation of relations to a strategic partnership. 

This came during Abdel Ati's meeting Wednesday with Greek Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis. The meeting addressed ways to develop the distinguished bilateral relations between the two friendly countries.

During the consultations, Abdel Ati affirmed Egypt's aspiration to continue advancing the strategic relations between the two countries to broader horizons in various fields.

The Foreign Minister also briefed his Greek counterpart on the court ruling issued on May 28 regarding the lands surrounding Saint Catherine's Monastery. He emphasized that the Monastery, its archaeological sites, its spiritual value, and its religious status should not be affected. He noted that the court ruling preserves the monastery's spiritual value and high religious status, and that the ruling allows the monastery's monks to continue to benefit from it and the religious and archaeological sites in the area.

He emphasized that, contrary to what was falsely reported in the media, the ruling clearly affirmed the religious, spiritual, and monastic ownership of the monastery and the surrounding lands. This represents an important historical step that confirms the sanctity and religious status of the monastery. It also enables the monastery to continue performing its religious and spiritual functions without any change to the status quo.

Minister Abdel Aati highlighted the President's affirmation on several occasions, including during his recent visit to Athens on May 7, of Egypt's full commitment to preserving the monastery's sacred religious status and protecting it from any form of encroachment.

 He explained that this reflects Egypt's full and unwavering respect for the monastery's religious and sacred character, within the framework of the values ​​of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among religions, deeply rooted in Egypt's history.