Egypt started on Sunday a joint military exercise with the Greek and Cypriot air and naval forces, called ‘Medusa 8,' in the Mediterranean Sea, the military spokesperson Tamer El Refaie said in a statement. The Egyptian army is participating in the exercise with some new weapons such as the Mistral-class Landing Helicopter Dock, named Anwar El-Sadat, the submarine 41, and F-16 fighter jets. The exercise includes several activities in the context of the plan of joint exercises between the Egyptian armed forces and friendly countries to exchange expertise and raise the efficiency of the forces participating in these exercises, the statement read. In 2015, Egypt and Greece held their first joint exercise Medusa in 2015. Meanwhile, the Egyptian and French naval forces conducted an exercise called ‘Cleopatra 2017' early in July in the Egyptian waters of the Red and the Mediterranean Seas. Lately, Egypt has forged strong ties with Greece and Cyprus. President Al-Sisi travelled to Greece in December 2015 for a three-day visit. During it, Al-Sisi discussed with his Greek counterpart boosting bilateral relations and enhancing economic ties between the two countries. In late 2017, Al-Sisi met with his Cypriot counterpart Anastasiades and discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, hailing Nicosia's efforts in unifying Cyprus, during a two-day visit to take part in the fifth tripartite summit with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts. In October 2016, the fourth round of the trilateral summit between Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece was held in Cairo. As a result of the summit, the three countries agreed to work on implementing projects in the fields of energy, maritime transport, tourism, and agriculture. In December 2016, the Egyptian navy and air force participated in joint military exercises named ‘Medusa 2016' with Greek forces in Greece. The exercises included naval inspection operations, research, search and rescue, and training for naval missions.
