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Maria S. Topalova 

Special correspondent of GRReporter in Cairo

             120,000 Greeks, over 200 Greek companies, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and the geographical proximity are sufficient reasons for the Greek interest in the stability of Egypt. "The reforms will not take place alone, the transition to democracy will be difficult, but Greece will support you and offer its assistance whenever it is needed." This was the main message that the Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas brought to Egypt during his daylong visit to its capital.

            Cairo seems calm a few weeks after the hottest events on Tahrir Square, but the officials at the Greek Embassy ​​and the local journalists we meet confess that they are still afraid to walk down the streets calmly. Troops and tanks are seen in many places in the Egyptian capital even today. And we witness street demonstrations – the citizens enjoy some of the newly acquired freedoms.

            A small group of women has gathered in front of the palace of the Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, loudly protesting against the ban on headscarves in France and chanting: "President, where are you?". Not much information is announced after the first meeting of the Greek diplomat with the head of the transitional government of Egypt. The cortege left for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Dimitris Droutsas meets with his Egyptian counterpart Dr. Nabil el Arabi. "The new face of Egyptian-Greek relations," determined Droutsas the talks and stressed that Cairo is a strategic partner for Athens and Greece firmly believes in the political wisdom of the Egyptian citizens.
 
            "The word support is incorrect. We want to invest in the stability and security of Egypt because it is an investment in the stability and security of the European Union," stated Dimitris Droutsas. Dr. al Arabi highlighted the active work of Greece for the development of a European Marshall Plan for Egypt and the other countries of North Africa. The hall where the conference takes place is full of people. The President of Turkey Abdullah Gul was there only a day ago and local journalists ask jokingly if Egypt has assumed a mediating role in the difficult Greek-Turkish relations.

            The upcoming international conference on Libya, which will be held in Cairo on the 14^th of April, is the occasion to visit the headquarters of the Arab League. It is located minutes away from the troubled Tahrir Square, opposite the National Archaeological Museum, which was closed again a few days ago. We are traveling through a lane of tanks and soldiers - a real war zone, but it is worth while.

The Secretary General Amr Moussa is one of the candidates for president in the next election. And the organisation he chairs is one of the most active ones in finding a political solution to the conflict in Libya.

            Amr Moussa stressed that the conference on the 14^th of April will be on the humanitarian aspects of the conflict in Libya and will be at the level of organisations, not of governments. And Dimitris Droutsas reiterates Greece's position that the Libyan people alone should decide what direction the country would take, but its integrity and sovereignty should be guaranteed by the international community. Both diplomats support an immediate ceasefire and cessation of violence against civilians. In diplomatic terms, the week is entirely devoted to Libya. The foreign ministers of the European Union meet in Luxembourg on Tuesday. The Contact Group on Libya meets on Wednesday in Doha, and the foreign ministers of NATO meet in Berlin on Thursday in parallel with the conference in Cairo.
 
Greek diplomatic sources believe that if solution to Libya is not found this week after so intense shuttle diplomacy, it would mean that the international community is simply not able to offer a solution there. The same sources express their concern that if this happens, the confidence of the Arab world in the West will be largely lost.

And the Western visitors’ traces along the streets of Cairo are almost invisible. The local tourism notes a disastrous downturn after the events on Tahrir Square. The luxury hotels Sheraton, Novotel and 4 Seasons along the Nile full of people once are somehow inappropriately empty now.