Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou described Sunday, 16 of November as “important,” on the occasion of the signing of the energy agreement between Greece and Ukraine.
“Our country is, in practice and on the ground, becoming an energy hub, as the prime minister said from the very first moment of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he stressed in an interview with the main news bulletin of ERTNews, and continued: “Our country stood by Ukraine, by the side of the defender. And how could it do otherwise, when we ourselves have suffered the national blow of Turkey’s invasion and illegal occupation of Cyprus? For us, the inviolability of borders is non-negotiable. And this stance by the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and by our country was, for a long time, criticized as the stance of a predictable ally.
“Today it appears that the predictable one is becoming stable, reliable, and ultimately effective. Beyond the geographical position of our country, situated between three continents; beyond the infrastructure our country possesses; beyond economic and political stability—there is the clear stance maintained by Kyriakos Mitsotakis that brought American natural gas and the American government to choose Greece as the stable entry gateway for American natural gas into Central Europe.”
“Today’s agreement is not a stand-alone agreement, but is part of the broader agreement signed a week ago between the American company Venture Global and the Greek company Atlantic SEE Trade LNG, which is a joint venture of DEPA and AKTOR.
“This agreement creates a relationship of trust both with the United States and with the countries of the vertical corridor, and allows our country to act as supplier—to be the entry gateway for countries that need natural-gas supply. Because both Europe and the United States have made a decision for complete disengagement from Russian natural gas. And as the prime minister said today, this must be implemented.
“Natural gas must not come from Russia disguised through Turkey, and this is why Greece proposed and achieved, in the relevant EU regulation, an explicit ban and commitment that any natural gas arriving from Turkey be considered a priori as Russian, unless proven otherwise. And in this way we have, to some extent, limited the ability and likelihood of violation of the ban on Russian natural gas.”
What the Energy Agreement with Ukraine Means for Greece
Referring to the benefits Greece gains from this agreement, Stavros Papastavrou stated: “First of all, it is a huge vote of confidence in our country. The United States is choosing us as the reliable ally to supply American natural gas to all the countries of the Vertical Corridor. We are talking about a region of 100 million people.
“At the same time, we have last week’s very important agreement with Exxon Mobil, which follows that of Chevron. Essentially, our country is the energy ally—the strategic energy ally—of the United States in Europe.”
Commenting on the American presence during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Greece, the minister noted that “the American government has stated clearly that disengagement from Russian natural gas and the creation of conditions of stability and prosperity play a decisive role for the development of the region. We can say that the Vertical Corridor is a central artery of stability and progress for the entire region.”
Regarding the agreement on Exxon Mobil’s participation in a new drilling operation in the northwestern Ionian, the minister said: “For the first time in 40 years, 18 months from now, our country will have exploratory drilling, and this is very important for all Greek women and all Greek men. We will see, that is, whether we can have commercially exploitable deposits, and if this is proven to be the case, then from 2030 we may have production. But from the moment it becomes evident that there is a commercially exploitable deposit, all of our country’s offshore blocks—from the Ionian to Crete—acquire much greater value for all Greeks.”
