Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis will travel to Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday, June 4, accompanied by officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Religion and Sports & Culture to meet with his counterpart, Badr Abdel Ati, and with the issue of the Sinai Monastery in the spotlight and more pressing than ever before.
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Athens is suddenly faced with Cairo's invocation of a court ruling depriving the Monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai of the ownership of the assets it has held for centuries.
The Greek government, through the Greek Foreign Minister who travels to Cairo on Wednesday, wishes to ascertain what Cairo's intentions are and to ask for the agreement that had previously been reached for an out-of-court settlement to be respected.
In the third article of this arrangement the ownership of the Monastery was recognized: "The parties agree that, according to the inscription of the Monastery of St. Catherine on the World Heritage List, the Monastery, its buildings, its plots, churches and related buildings mentioned in the attached document signed by the parties are the property of the Monastery belonging to the Greek Orthodox Dogma."
Athens insists that this article must form the basis of any talks and is ready to accept any proposals for adjustments from the Egyptian side, which will not overturn the philosophy of the Agreement. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his communication with President Al-Sisi, stressed that "... the preservation of the Greek Orthodox and pilgrimage character of the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai is paramount...".
It is obvious that Cairo, which methodically let time pass without signing the Agreement, waiting for the Court's verdict, will invoke the decision of the Egyptian judiciary (ed. which, in terms of its independence, is the target of repeated negative reports from the EU), calling for drastic changes to the text, which will essentially overturn the key point concerning the recognition of the ownership rights of the Monastery.
The Egyptian presidency's announcement, issued after Prime Minister Mitsotakis' telephone conversation with President Al-Sisi, is also indicative of the Egyptian side's intentions, in which it is noted: "... The communication emphasized Egypt's unwavering commitment to upholding the unique and sacred religious status of St. Catherine's Monastery, ensuring that this status remains untouched. This commitment is reinforced by the recent court ruling, which aligns with Egypt's commitment to the sanctity of religious and ecclesiastical sites and confirms the unique heritage, spiritual and religious position of the Monastery of St. Catherine."
The Egyptian side is attempting to disconnect the ownership of the Monastery's assets from the "respect for the religious character and sacredness" of the Monastery, in order to fortify itself behind the Court's decision and withdraw from the Agreement.
It is characteristic that the wording of the operative part of the Court's judgment is ... coincidentally adapted to this negotiating line, as the Court ... granted the monks the right to exercise their religious duties in the premises of the Monastery, the ownership of which will belong to the Egyptian state, with the Service for the Protection of Antiquities as administrator.
Thus, the human resources of the Monastery of about twenty, the majority of them elderly monks, with a dubious possibility of renewal, are transformed after 1,500 years of uninterrupted operation of the Monastery, into "guests" in its premises.
In Athens, where the alarm has been sounded, serious dilemmas have been raised. No one wants the issue of the Monastery to be an occasion for a crisis in the valuable and strategic Greek-Egyptian relations. On the other hand, however, the breach of what has been agreed on such a sensitive issue and the attempt to impose fait accompli is not a good precedent.
Athens could to some extent put pressure on Cairo, warning of the consequences that such a development would have not only on Greek-Egyptian relations, but also on Egypt's relations with the European Union, from which it expects to receive 25 billion euros in aid. In the coming years. Greece has been at the forefront of the effort for the past 12 years to persuade Europe to overlook the human rights and rule of law situation in Egypt and to restore a strategic relationship with the country and the Sisi regime.
At the same time, at a time when there are serious questions about how President Trump will manage relations with Egypt, the mobilization of the Orthodox world by promoting the news that Cairo is taking action against a historic living monument of Christianity will not be best received in Washington, where perceptions of a clash of civilizations prevail and top ministers openly promote their Christian faith.
The clear intention to abide by the agreed and the "centuries-old fixed status of the Holy Monastery of Mount Sinai in Egypt" was reiterated by the government spokesman, Pavlos Marinakis.
As the government spokesman explained, "there was a terrible rush", adding that "the decision accepts the Monastery's appeal regarding the legal occupation of all places of worship by the Monastery and the perpetual religious right of residence of all Greek Orthodox monks. However, it does not mention ownership of the Monastery over the places of worship."
The issue, as he noted, is "that there should be no uncertainty and doubt. The government is making efforts long before the issue becomes public."
Map comes to light with which the status of ownership recognition of the Monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai by the Egyptian state is presumed.
As reported by the Greek TV Channel Open TV, it is a map dated back to 2002, which Egypt submitted to UNESCO delimiting the area with the World Heritage Sites.
In particular, the map was included in the application for the registration of the Monastery of Sinai in UNESCO and in which Egypt stated that "the Monastery is the property of the Greek Orthodox Church and belongs to the Archdiocese of Sinai. Under the hierarchical system of the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is self-governing and independent, under the administration of the Abbot, who bears the title of Archbishop."
The application for registration made by the Egyptian state and the minutes of the discussions speak of ownership of the Monastery and this was never disputed by the Egyptian authorities," underlined the legal advisor of the Sinai Monastery, Mr. Christos Kobiliris.
The hostile attitude of the "Muslim Brotherhood"
However, in 2012 the government of the "Muslim Brotherhood" turned against the ownership of the Monastery.
The court decisions of both 2015 and 2025 were also negative, despite the effort for an out-of-court settlement.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Gerapetritis, will travel to Cairo on Wednesday, June 4, accompanied by officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Religious Affairs and Sports & Culture.
This means that Mr. Gerapetritis will lead the Greek delegation in the talks with Egypt regarding the religious character of the Sinai Monastery.
In addition, according to the Foreign Ministry's announcement, the Greek Foreign Minister will meet with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdel Ati.
