November witnessed two major energy-related agreements finalized and signed in Athens, with the first foreseeing the import of American LNG to at least a couple of terminals in Greece for subsequent regasification and transport â by pipelines â to other countries in southeast and eastern Europe, including for the all-important Ukraine market.Â
Just as importantly for the Greek side, two major multinationals, ExxonMobil and Chevron entered into binding agreements with Athens to begin exploratory drilling in a handful of maritime blocks south of the large island of Crete and in the Ionian Sea â marking the first time that drilling will occur in Greek waters in decades. The countryâs largest refinery group, the partially state-owned Helleniq Energy, will also participate in a consortium with ExxonMobil.
A more-or-less unofficial regional energy summit in the Greek capital also apparently revitalized interest for the ambitious (and challenging) Great Sea Interconnector project, which entails the connection of the power grids of Israel, Cyprus (the government-controlled areas and not the illegally Turkish-occupied northern third) and Greece via an undersea cable laid across the breadth of the east Mediterraneanâs seabed.Â
Ankaraâs opposition to the project is standing and has been manifested with saber-rattling and attempts at âgunboat diplomacyâ, yet an embryonic proposal floated by Athens to convene a meeting of five east Mediterranean coastal states (Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Libya and Turkey) to at least agree on a framework for resolving differences made headlines.Â
Additionally, ever closer Greece-Israel relations, both on a bilateral level and in multilateral settings, and which include defense cooperation and energy, now comprise a component of the wider regionâs geopolitical âcalculusâ.
On this segment of âExplaining Greeceâ, Triantafyllos Karatrantos, an expert in international relations, European security and new threats, is asked about these very recent developments and what they entail for the country and the wider region. He also touches on the Gaza conflict and how this possibly affects Athens.
Dr. Karatrantos is a research associate specializing on the issues of radicalization, terrorism, law enforcement models, security and foreign policy at the Athens-based Hellenic Institute for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), and conducts post-doctoral research on at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
