Greek Diplomatic Life Official Site
Greece and Saudi Arabia consolidate the strategic character their relations
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently met with His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence at the Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh. The Prime Minister’s Official Visit to Riyadh “confirms and consolidates the strategic character of Greece’s relations with Saudi Arabia.”
During their meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed the exceptional level of the two countries bilateral relationship and discussed the prospect of further deepening and expanding their cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as investment, energy, tourism and defence. Both sides underscored the significance of the newly-established Greek-Saudi Business Council for strengthening ties between the business communities of the two countries and explored how to further promote investment initiatives and connectivity projects. They agreed on the establishment of a Greek-Saudi Supreme Cooperation Council, which will be convened for the first time within the first half of 2022 in order to strengthen and further promote bilateral cooperation.
The Prime Minister and the Crown Prince exchanged views on developments in the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and Northern Africa. Premier Mitsotakis pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a steadfast and important partner, who plays a deeply significant role in the Gulf region, while emphasising Greece’s role as a pillar of security and stability in the region. He further briefed the Crown Prince on the destabilising and counter-productive role that Turkey plays in the region, pointing out that Greece stands ready to engage in dialogue on the basis of respect for International Law, sovereignty and sovereign rights and under the condition of abstention from provocative actions.
Premier Mitsotakis explicitly condemned all attacks against the territory of Saudi Arabia.
The Crown Prince thanked Greece on behalf of Saudi Arabia for providing a “Patriot” missile battery to bolster the Kingdom’s defences.
The Greek Prime Minister also spoke at the summit of the ‘Middle East Green Initiative’ where he stressed the possibility of Greece developing into an energy hub for the transfer of clean energy to the European market. Earlier, he had met with entrepreneurs from Saudi Arabia who would like to invest in Greece and also had meetings with representatives of Greek companies that either operate or would like to operate in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Government Spokesman, Premier Mitsotakis referred to the agreement with Egypt regarding the electricity inter-connection with Greece, while at the same time stressed that Greece can be the natural entry point for liquefied natural gas and hydrogen. He also stressed that Greece as an EU Member is committed to the goal of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 while the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.
The meeting was attended on the Greek side by Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Openness Costas Fragogiannis, Director of the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Bureau Ambassador Eleni Sourani, Deputy Government Spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni and the Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister Alexis Patelis.
