Greece, Cyprus and Israel to expand energy cooperation amid Ukraine war

ATHENS, April 5 (Reuters) – Greece, Cyprus and Israel will proceed working collectively on pure gasoline pipeline initiatives with European power dependency a brand new focus due to the battle in Ukraine, their international ministers mentioned on Tuesday.

Israeli International Minister Yair Lapid, who met his Greek and Cypriot counterparts in Athens, mentioned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has modified the construction of the power market in Europe and within the Center East.

The three allies, he mentioned, would search to spice up their power ties and increase their cooperation within the coming months to incorporate extra nations.

The European Union goals to chop its reliance on Russian gasoline by two-thirds this yr and finish all Russian fossil gas imports by 2027 resulting from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Cyprus, Greece and Israel have agreed to construct the world’s longest and deepest underwater energy cable that may traverse the Mediterranean seabed and hyperlink their electrical energy grids. The challenge, known as the Euro-Asia interconnector, is predicted to be accomplished by 2024.

One other challenge which has been agreed between the three is the EastMed subsea pipeline. Designed to produce Europe with pure gasoline from the japanese Mediterranean, it has been within the planning for a number of years.

“We’re continuing with initiatives such because the Euroasia Interconnector and the EastMed pipeline… and we’re assured that when materialised they are going to have one other sensible and geostrategical worth for the Japanese Mediterranean and the European Union,” mentioned Ioannis Kasoulides, the International Minister of Cyprus.

Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Michele Kambas and Angeliki Koutantou; Enhancing by Alexander Smith

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