Mount Sinai: From promises to diplomatic illusions

Finally, what has happened to the Sinai Monastery? In Athens, more or less, with leaks from the Foreign Ministry, they were celebrating that the Egyptian Foreign Minister revealed to George Gerapetritis that an agreement between Egypt and the Monastery was imminent. Initially, however, what Athens was seeking was an agreement between Greece - Egypt and the Monastery.

As for the Egyptians' bluster about preserving the religious character of the Monastery, apparently, no one believed that they would turn it into a luxury spa or conference center. The issue from the very beginning was to ensure the ownership of the Monastery with a legal entity, at least in the religious space inside and around the walls. And that is why we did not hear a word during the statements of the two Foreign Ministers in Athens.

If they think in the government that everything is communication and they are trying to… baptize the fish as meat, they are making a big mistake. The issue of the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai has major religious importance, but it also concerns the very prestige and credibility of Greek foreign policy. And… deceptions like the one that the Monastery will “maintain its cultic character” will not pass muster.

And one more thing: When you give the Egyptians the impression that you are dependent on them, because they have a role in Libya, because they have a crucial role in the issue of maritime delimitations, and that is why you are ready to swallow their blackmail about the Sinai Monastery, you are giving the wrong message. And you will realize this when, at some point, the time for discussions on delimitations comes.

Egypt's verbal statement, which questions Greek maritime spatial planning and essentially adopts Turkish positions on Kastellorizo, is a worrying message that Athens cannot ignore.

Ministry of Outrage newspaper THE PRESENT