Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday and visited Egypt.
Egypt, steadily over the last decade, has been a strategic partner of the country, both geopolitically and energy-wise. It is a key supplier of Liquefied Natural Gas and oil, something that is expected to be reconfirmed during this visit.
The energy relationship between Greece and Egypt is already quite strong, both bilaterally and through regional initiatives like the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum. Egypt is now Greece’s third largest LNG supplier, a testament to the key role that Egypt plays in Greek and European energy security, said the chief energy adviser to the prime minister of Greece, Nikos Tsafos.
The core of the bilateral relationship, which is being developed in parallel with the multilateral regional cooperation with Cyprus and Israel, is the electricity interconnection between Greece and Egypt.
Europe is looking for energy partners to deal with the current crisis and the consequences of Russia´s invasion of Ukraine. In this sense, countries such as Egypt has shown potential and capacity to become an energy ally.
Greece and Egypt “are pillars of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and key players on the region’s energy map,” but also “face several common regional challenges.”
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to Egypt is extremely important as the two parties have reaffirmed the strategic depth of the relationship between the two countries.
The GREGY – Green Energy Interconnector project, as it is called, promoted by the Copelouzos Group involves the electrical interconnection of Egypt directly with mainland Greece through a submarine cable of 3,000 MW capacity and the possibility of bidirectional energy transmission.
The GREGY project will carry 100% green energy from Egypt to Greece, and through Greece to Europe, thus making a decisive contribution in tackling climate change and the greenhouse effect by significantly reducing CO2 emissions.
The project will provide alternative clean and renewable energy sources and routes for Europe, thereby reducing the continent’s dependency on energy produced from fossil fuels.
“We had the opportunity to discuss all issues of our cooperation, to make an assessment of the geopolitical situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, and to reaffirm that Greece and Egypt are factors of stability in our broader geopolitical neighbourhood. We also had the opportunity to discuss new prospects for cooperation, emphasizing on energy issues. The interconnection between Greece and Egypt through a power cable is a project that seems to enjoy the support of the European Union,” the prime minister said.
In the meeting it was also discussed the speedy activation and implementation of the agreements and memorandums of understanding signed between the two countries and the continued promotion of cooperation in the areas of military, economy, culture, energy, natural gas and electrical connectivity, as well as cooperation in the green transition sectors.
The strategic nature of the two countries’ cooperation for energy security in Europe, which will make Greece a hub for the transfer of green energy, has been recognized by both the European Union and the USA.
