Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades held a trilateral summit in Jerusalem on December 8, agreeing to boost energy cooperation.
Tsipras, who was accompanied by Environment and Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis, said Greece aims to be an energy transit centre for Israeli and Cypriot natural gas to Europe.
The Greek premier said teams from the countries will discuss the East Med pipeline to transport gas from the Israeli and Cyprus offshore gas fields through Greece to other parts of Europe. The project is expected to boost European Union’s energy security, providing a new supply route and source of gas.
He also underlined the strategic importance of the recent purchase of two gas fields from Israel by Greek companies.
Stathakis also met with Israel’s Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz. The Greek Environment and Energy Ministry said in a press release that all sides noted that East Med is an important project that is economically and technically feasible.
During the trilateral meeting, they also discussed the electricity network interconnection between Israel, Cyprus, Crete and Athens. They agreed that the next step would be the meeting of the appropriate regulating authorities from the three countries in Cyprus the next two months.
Finally, the leaders from the three Mediterranean countries discussed cooperation in the fields of renewables and energy efficiency.
