The agreements were signed by the respective ministers of the two countries in the presence of President Nicos Anastasiades and the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, on the sidelines of the trilateral summit between Cyprus, Greece and Jordan taking place at the presidential palace, in Nicosia.

Prior to the signing of the agreement, Anastasiades and Abdullah had a private meeting that was followed by expanded talks between delegations of the two countries.

According to a statement, the foreign ministers of the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the governments of Cyprus and Jordan. The other agreements were signed by the ministers of education, health and agriculture.

Earlier before the start of the summit, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stressed the importance of the upgrading and extension of the Greek and Cypriot cooperation with Jordan, a country that plays a role in the region.

“Jordan plays a very important role in the Middle East, particularly in terms of security and the flow of refugee flows,” said Tsipras.

“The common strategy that we have pursued to highlight Cyprus and Greece as the pillars of security, peace and cooperation in the region is a strategy that has produced substantial results and we are continuing to upgrade our role and presence in the wider region,” he added.

Tsipras also said that he expected that after the presidential elections, he expected a window of dialogue to open for the Cyprus talks to resume.

“We remain firmly committed to the resumption of the procedures for finding a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem,” he said.

Anastasiades said the deepening of the relationship with Jordan would help face the challenges of the region and welcomed Tsipras’ presence in Nicosia.

“On the one hand, we have close cooperation within the framework of our regular contacts [with Greece], but the most important is the continuation of the common policy of broadening relations with the countries of the region,” he said.

“I want to believe that, as we have built excellent relations with Egypt, Israel, with Lebanon where the prospects are excellent, that we will also deepen relations with Jordan for a co-operation aimed at addressing what our region is facing.”

Source: Cyprus Mail