Abdel Fattah El Sisi holds talks with Greek PM Mitsotakis in Egyptian coastal city

First visit by Greek prime minister since he was re-elected in June

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has arrived in Egypt for talks. AP

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was on Thursday in the coastal city of Alamein for a meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the presidency’s spokesman said.

It is the first official visit by Mr Mitsotakis since his re-election to the premiership in June.

Thursday's talks involved extensive discussions between delegations from each country on mutual interests, the Egyptian presidency's spokesman said.

Mr El Sisi thanked Greece for being a constant ally, on a regional level and during Egypt's dealings with the EU, he added.

Mr Mitsotakis, in turn, thanked Mr El Sisi for sending planes to help extinguish recent wildfires in Greece, the spokesman said.

Relations between Egypt and Greece have long been cordial but have strengthened significantly since Mr El Sisi came to power in 2014.

Since then, both countries have signed a number of important military, security and energy deals that have aligned their interests, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which is rich in oil and gas.

The two countries also signed a deal last year under which Egypt will supply power to the Greek grid that can then be transferred to the wider European power network. The $4 billion agreement was made as Europe was seeking alternatives to Russian energy, which was withheld after the war started in Ukraine.

A network of undersea cables are being laid in the Mediterranean to connect the grids of Greece and Egypt. When complete, the project will supply 3,000 megawatts daily to the European grid, or power to roughly three million homes, depending on household electricity demand.

Additionally, alongside Cyprus, Egypt and Greece signed a tripartite deal in 2021 intended to strengthen military co-ordination to protect their interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The deal was criticised by Turkey, Greece’s long-time rival.

Cairo has sided with Athens in its repeated disagreements with Turkey over oil and gas rights in the Mediterranean.

Egypt and Greece have also been critical of Ankara's relationship with Libya's Tripoli-based government headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, whose legitimacy is rejected by the rival Libyan Parliament based in the east.

Cairo’s relations with Turkey were further strained by Ankara’s rejection of the 2013 ousting of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, that helped to bring Mr El Sisi to power.

The dispute between Cairo and Ankara then expanded into a regional disagreement over Islamism.

On the security front, Mr El Sisi’s rule has in part been defined by a grinding anti-terrorism campaign in North Sinai against ISIS, as well as large-scale crackdowns on the more extreme Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, across Egypt's major cities.

Athens has repeatedly and publicly endorsed Mr El Sisi’s campaign, calling it essential for regional stability.