In politics, timing often carries a clearer message than the event itself. The meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in El Alamein on Tuesday is significant not so much for what transpired during the meeting, but for its timing. The meeting cannot be understood in isolation from recent events: the growing tension between Athens and Ankara over the Aegean Sea, the signing of the $3.5 billion Achilles’ Shield defense deal with Israel, the increasing defense cooperation between Egypt and Turkey, and the escalating tensions between Turkey and Israel in Syria.
Achilles’ Shield deal
Greece recently signed the $3.5 billion Achilles’ Shield deal with Israel, positioning Athens as Israel’s closest security ally in the Eastern Mediterranean, at a time when relations between Israel and Egypt have been strained since the Gaza war.
Mitsotakis’ swift visit to Egypt followed, could serve as an attempt to reassure Cairo that the Greek alliance with Tel Aviv did not imply bias against Egypt, and as a message to Ankara that relations between Cairo and Athens were excellent. For his part, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis expressed this clearly when he described Egypt as a “primary target” for Greece diplomatically, and characterized his relationship with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, as “fraternal.”
