Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades presented on Monday to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the Order of Macarius III, the highest order awarded in Cyprus, for his efforts to preserve security in the region and for working towards a better future.
Sisi, in turn, presented to Anastasiades the Order of the Nile, the highest order awarded by Egypt.
The exchange occurred during a visit by Sisi to Cyprus where he held talks with his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia.
The two leaders discussed means of mutual cooperation and exchanged views on issues of mutual concern.
Egypt and Cyprus will sign memorandums of understanding in a session between the delegations of both countries.
Sisi’s visit to Cyprus will include discussions about linking Cypriot gas fields with gas transferring facilities in Egypt, an official source at the Ministry of Petroleum said.
The source pointed out that the needs of the local market in Cyprus of gas are less than what the country produces, but it nonetheless needs facilities to be able to export the surplus.
Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Mulla said earlier in an international energy meeting that Egypt had agreed with the Cypriot government to build a gas pipeline from Cyprus to Egypt.
While in the presidential palace in Nicosia, Sisi laid a crown of flowers carrying the flag of Egypt in front of the memorial of the first president of Cyprus, Macarius III, who died in 1977.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
