The meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman, is underway at the Maximos Palace.
The official visit today and tomorrow of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia to Athens signals the strategic nature of the relations between the two countries, which was confirmed during the official visit of the prime minister to Riyadh in October 2021, while it is expected to be sealed with the signing of a series of bilateral agreements and with the intense interest of the Saudi side for large investments in Greece.
It is noted that Mohammed Bin Salman is accompanied by a large government and business delegation.
As stated by government sources, indicative of the importance that Saudi Arabia attaches to relations with Greece – as a pillar of security and stability in the region – is the fact that tonight’s visit by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to Athens is the first of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia on European soil since April 2018.
In the statements made by the two leaders at the beginning of the meeting they said:
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Your Highness, it is truly a pleasure to welcome you to Athens, on your first trip to Europe after the Covid-19 pandemic. It is an opportunity to reaffirm the strength of our strategic relationship. We will sign important agreements and we will have the opportunity to discuss regional developments but also how to further strengthen the important relationship between our two countries, placing particular emphasis on economic cooperation.
I would like to congratulate you again on the “Vision 2030” project and the ambition that runs through it. And we would like to look at further opportunities for cooperation between our two countries, in our economies, and to attract more Saudi investment to Greece.
It is therefore my great pleasure to welcome you to Athens and to the prime minister’s office.
Mohammed bin Salman: Thank you Mr. Prime Minister. I am very happy to be in Athens and I really thank you for the warm welcome, which means a lot to me and to Saudi Arabia.
The relationship between our two countries is a historic one, and I believe we also have historic opportunities, many of which we are going to finalize today. By connecting the electricity grids, we can provide Greece and south-east Europe through Greece with much cheaper renewable energy and we will sign a memorandum of understanding on this today.
We are also concerned with hydrogen and how to turn Greece into a hub for Europe in terms of hydrogen, this is a game-changer for both countries. We are also working on the interconnection of the telecommunications network.
These three are all important issues that are going to change the position of Greece and Saudi Arabia and support Europe, especially southern and western Europe, with much cheaper and efficient energy from renewable sources. We have a fourth major issue that we can announce today, we can do that later, we’re working on it.
And we certainly have a rich agenda: investment, trade, economic agenda, political agenda, security. So I promise you that when I come to Greece, I will not come empty-handed. We have many issues that will change the facts for both our countries, but also for the entire region. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.
*Kyriakos Mitsotakis*: Thank you, Your Highness.
Source: Capital
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