The further strengthening and upgrading of the strategic relations between Greece and Saudi Arabia - at a time when the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East is being reshaped and international turbulence is occurring - and Greece's role as a bridge, a commercial bridge.

As the Athens News Agency states, the official visit of Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Aloula, Saudi Arabia, and his meeting with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, marks the official visit of Greece as a trade, investment and energy bridge between Asia and the Middle East and Europe. The two leaders will co-chair the first meeting of the Supreme Council for Strategic Cooperation between the two countries and will co-chair its implementation through a series of joint initiatives.

It should be noted that this is the first High Cooperation Council between Greece and a Middle Eastern country, and it is a permanent structure of bilateral cooperation with Committees per areas of cooperation, which will be chaired by the relevant ministers.

Saudi Arabia is a stable and important partner with an important role in the Gulf and the wider region. For its part, Riyadh sees Athens as a stable and reliable European democracy and as a gateway to the EU and European markets.

The Prime Minister will be accompanied by six ministers (Foreign Affairs, Defence, Development, Energy, Energy, Tourism, Culture), two deputy ministers (Deputy Ministers Al. Papadopoulou and K. Fragogiannis) and the Deputy Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports.

The APA meeting is expected to mark even more synergies at the political level, in defence, investment, energy, tourism, culture and sports, while it is the Prime Minister's third visit to Saudi Arabia (he had visited Riyadh in 2020 and 2021).

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had paid an official visit to Athens in July 2022 and it was his first visit to Europe since the pandemic.

During that visit to Athens, the establishment of the Supreme Council for Strategic Cooperation between Greece and Saudi Arabia had been signed, which consolidated the strategic relationship between the two countries and the systematic and institutionalised cooperation in a number of areas, while their defence cooperation is particularly close.

The strategic nature of relations has been sealed by Greece's contribution to Saudi Arabia's air defence with the shipment of a Patriot battery, a move which has changed the climate in bilateral relations and which, as has been repeatedly conveyed to Athens, has been appreciated by Saudi Arabia.

Last October, the Prime Minister had met with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in Brussels on the sidelines of the first EU-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit and had emphasized the economic and investment job prospects that are opening up in Greece and our country's position as a hub, a commercial and energy hub and a gateway to Europe.

Also crucial was the coordination and cooperation between Athens and Riyadh last August in order to safely remove the Greek-owned oil tanker "Sounion" which had been attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea.