On 11th August 2017, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, welcomed to the Patriarchate three high-ranking officers of the Hellenic Armed Forces, which are in Alexandria as part of the excellent military cooperation and the very close bonds of friendship which have grown recently between the two countries, Greece and Egypt. They are Mr. Theodoros Tsamoglou, Flight Lieutenant of the Airforce, Mr. Ioannis Nellas, Lieutenant Commander of the Navy and Flight Lieutenant Ioannis Zias, f the Airforce, Land Safety Observer of the F-16 “ZEUS” of the Solo Aircraft Demonstration Group, who expressed their joy for this visit and their gratitude for the very warm welcome. The Alexandrian Primate expressed to the Military Officers his great joy and satisfaction on the remarkable improvement of the relations between Greece and Egypt, with military cooperation on the one hand and on the other with the political and economic relations. His Beatitude emphasized that, the strong military alliance and the many joint defense operations programmes, in the fields of operational and personal education, of the Greek and Egyptian Armed Forces Staff, are in the interests of both countries, because through them bilateral relations are upgraded and the strong points unite Egypt and Greece all the more. Both countries, which are bordered by the Large Mediterranean Sea and even closer by the Libyan Sea, have had and still have a long and stable relationship of friendship and cooperation. And we must focus on these sound bases, to stop this sea from becoming “a cemetery of human souls” and work together to transform it into a “sea of peace and stability”, as His Beatitude the Patriarch so characteristically said. In conclusion he thanked all those present for their presence in Alexandria and for their contribution to our Homeland, and prayed that they would always have peace and strength to perform their noble duties. The visitors then had the opportunity to be taken on a conducted tour of the Patriarchal Library, the Patriarchal Sacristy and the Archaeological Museum.
