Cyprus, Israel and Greece are keeping on track on implementing their joint EastMed gaspipeline project, which will link them one to another to carry gas recently discovered in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the markets of southern Europe. The leaders of the three countries praised the project after a third three-way meeting in 18 months, in Thessaloniki on Thursday 15 June.
Speaking after the meeting, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel commented: “We discussed energy production, the production and transfer of electricity, and also, and in particular, the building of the EastMed gas pipeline, which would be a revolution, a very promising piece of work”.
EastMed, stressed Nicos Anastasiades of Greece, is “a project that contributes to the energy security of our countries and of other countries in Europe”.
Alexis Tsipras of Cyprus recalled that the recent discoveries of gas deposits in Israel and Cyprus had strengthened strategic cooperation between these two countries and was a “factor that contributes to peace and stability in the region”.
The three leaders plan to meet again in Cyprus, in December.
Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Italy agreed during a ministerial summit in Tel Aviv, in April, to step up their cooperation to take the EastMed project forward with the EU’s support.
The project is deemed technically feasible and economically viable and the consortium responsible for building the project, IGI Poseidon, considers that the gas pipeline can be built by 2025. The cost of the infrastructure is estimated at €5.8 billion.
The EU is providing support of €2 million to finance the preparatory studies for the technical design of the project that it selected among other energy infrastructure projects of common interest (PCI), for which it provides financial support. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)