Greece, Cyprus, Israel widen energy cooperation

Greece, Cyprus, and Israel will continue working together on natural gas pipeline and electricity cable projects with European energy dependency a new focus due to the war in Ukraine, their foreign ministers said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who met his Greek and Cypriot counterparts in Athens, said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had changed the energy market structure in Europe and the Middle East.

The three allies, he said, would seek to boost their energy ties and expand their cooperation in the coming months to include more countries.

The European Union aims to cut its reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end all Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027 due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Cyprus, Greece, and Israel have agreed to build the world’s longest and deepest underwater power cable that will traverse the Mediterranean seabed and link their electricity grids.

The project, called the Euro-Asia interconnector, is expected to be completed by 2024.

Another project agreed upon between the three is the EastMed subsea gas pipeline.

Designed to supply Europe with natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean, it has been in the planning for several years.

“We are proceeding with projects such as the EuroAsia Interconnector and the EastMed pipeline, both of which have attracted significant support from the EU and the US.

“And we are confident that when materialised, they will have an added practical and geostrategic value for the Eastern Mediterranean and the European Union,” said Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides.

He added: Our three countries can and should be part of the solution of Europe’s quest for diversified, secure, and cleaner energy supply from the Levantine corridor.

Next, the three Ministers will meet in Nicosia at the end of the year.