WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump’s return as leader of the free world is stoking excitement among Mediterranean officials about possibilities for peace and economic agreements in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Two deputy ministers from Greece and Cyprus expressed optimism about furthering peace agreements, especially the Abraham Accords, during a panel discussion last week hosted by Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle at the Delphi Forum hosted by the Hellenic American Leadership Council in Washington, DC.
Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexandra Papadopoulou said she is happy about “renewed American interest in the region” and predicted that the Abraham Accords, achieved under Trump’s first administration, would expand when Boyle asked how momentum could be generated to bring more countries into the agreement.
“For quite a number of years, all of us living in the greater Eastern Mediterranean region, we were afraid that the Americans are going to withdraw and they’re not going to show any active interest in what’s happening. This is not going to work. It will create a lot of problems,” she said. “I’m glad there is now a new, renewed American interest in the region. Of course, the countries involved have to make their own decisions and communicate their ideas to the American leadership, to the new American leadership.”
“The U.S. administration has excellent relations with the Israeli prime minister, also with the Saudi leadership, the leadership of Jordan, Egypt, so I’m pretty sure that some fine line will be found so the Abraham accords will continue, expand, and lead to another peaceful and prosperous and also a Middle East that has a place for all,” Papadopoulou added.
Boyle directed a similar question to Cyprus Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection Nicholas Ioannides, asking how America, Cyprus, Greece, and Israel, otherwise known as the “3+1,” can promote peace in the Middle East.
“Indeed, the Abraham Accords was a huge success of the first Trump administration. Thus the attempts for revival of this process is a very welcome development,” he said. “I’d like to stress that the Republic of Cyprus, as the southeasternmost EU member state, is a strong strategic partner of both the United States and Israel. Therefore, we believe that, and we’re ready to be part of a revived process within the context of Abraham Accords.”
Ioannides expanded on Cyprus’s strategic location in the region.
“We offer strategic depth owing to our geographical position, and we believe that we are, and we can continue being a humanitarian hub and a safe place for our partners in the region,” he detailed. “And, of course, we can use our excellent relations with other regional states as well in order to widen the scope of Abraham Accords 2.0, if I can put it this way.”
Julie Rayman, the managing director of policy and political affairs for the American Jewish Committee, also spoke to “tremendous opportunity” when asked about unlocking peace deals the Trump administration has shown an interest in reaching. However, she noted the economic impact on Israel stemming from the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks adds a level of complication that did not exist in the first Trump administration.
“I think that there’s a tremendous opportunity and more than anyone realized before,” Rayman contended.
“The one fundamental difference is that the Abraham Accords of the last Trump administration were built in large part on a promise of greater economic prosperity for all the countries involved, in part because of Israel’s economic prosperity,” she went on to add. “And one of the tragedies, one of the many tragedies of October 7, is that Israel’s economic prosperity is not what it was. It will rebound. It is already beginning to rebound, but as you’re looking out in the landscape of other countries, they could become partners, that piece of the deal, that piece of the puzzle, isn’t as apparent as it was a decade ago. So I think that’s a really fundamental piece of it, and it will be a challenge.”
Papadopoulou also discussed the economic opportunities in the region, specifically the possibility of establishing the India-Middle East–Europe (IMEC) corridor. The proposed trade route would run from India through the Middle East into Europe and America, mirroring China’s Belt and Road initiative.
Papadopoulou called it “an opportunity to be taken advantage of.”
“When you see the map, the map speaks by itself. You have the land, and you have the sea,” she explained. “And if you see the Belt and Road, it’s China, through Central Asia, through Pakistan, and then all the way to Turkey. But this is taken; it’s taken by China, and it’s natural because it’s Russia, China, you don’t have anything, no chance there. But there is the maritime corridor, and it’s the South China Sea, India and the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, and then all the way to Europe, and then eventually the U.S..”
She emphasized that “all the dots are there” to create a “maritime” corridor, and Greece and Cyprus could “serve as the glue” for the trade route.
“So it’s obvious that for all of us, the maritime road is one-way street. There is no other choice,” she said. “The foundation for this corridor is there. It’s the “3+1″, which is Cyprus, Israel, Greece, plus the U.S.–the system. Then you have the strategic relationship between Greece and Israel, the strategic relationship between Greece and India, then the excellent relations, more than excellent relations, with Saudi Arabia and Egypt. So all the dots are there, and Greece and Cyprus can serve as the glue that brings that part of the world connected to the European Union through a corridor that provides political stability, economic openness because this is free market–we’re members of the European Union–and very strong alliance with the United States. So you have all the elements in place.”
“And this is the economic aspect of what our friend said of the Abraham Accords,” Papadopoulou added. “This is how everything, the political and the economic, are coupled together and create this new, and I will not use the term Middle East, I will use the term Eastern Mediterranean, but in the big form, which starts from the Gulf all the way to the Balkans and all the way to Europe. So it’s there. We have to work to make it work.”
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