Chain reactions and from Athens are caused by the morning harsh statements of the President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides against him ADME for blackmailing money for the Greece – Cyprus – Israel cable. A few days after the Mitsotakis – Christodoulides meeting in New York and the framework for the cable consultation, in Athens there is a feeling that these harsh statements are torpedoed by the prospects of the project.
With this given and immediately after his return from Amorgos Kyriakos Mitsotakis convenes at 17:00 an extraordinary meeting at the Maximos Palace with the participation of the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment and the ADMIE. It should be noted the prime minister with the responsible minister Stavros Papastavrou to Amorgos and it was considered necessary to have a more extensive discussion on the data being shaped in the field, in the light of the intensity of the Cyprus reaction.
The backdrop
The unprecedented strict public warning of the Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides That “the Cypriot government is not blackmailed” and that the head of ADMIE “does not know who it has to do with” was not an individual outburst and was not a thunderbolt in the air. It was the climax of a escalating conflict about whether and how to get rid of the backdrop, her work Greece – Cyprus electric interconnection (Great Sea Interconnector).
The reason for today’s newspaper “Liberal” was the reason Cyprusthat the ADME He asked the RAEK (Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority) to overthrow the payment plan approved in July and to identify greater expenses. THE ADMEE denied That is directly claiming € 82 million and “recognizes and claims” only the first annual tranche of € 25 million.
Why was the first dose stuck
On July 31, 2025 the RACE It turned on a green light for the payment of € 25 million to the Implementation Body (ADMIE) for the period January – December 2025. This is a politically agreed arrangement in 2024 and incorporated into regulatory decisions.
Nicosia, however ADME presented a convincing road map of the project that has been stuck for months at the bottom of the sea outside Kaso. She herself RACE It has explained that the billing mechanism can be approved without it being automatic payment before it is proven by tariffs actually.
What does ADMIE ask for
THE ADMIE, According to information released by the Liberal, he appealed to last July’s RAEK decision, arguing that the project’s certified costs are much higher than the € 82 million recognized by the Nicosia. This move was seen as an attempt to overthrow the payment framework by paying € 25 million a year.
THE ADMEallegedly looking for a way to entertain impressions and argue that there was a misunderstanding about his intentions and that the immediate claim of € 82 million is not in his plans, but only claims the first tranche of € 25 million as agreed. This habitat, statements and denials is the backdrop on which the Cypriot president today raised the tones.
By Euroasia to GSI
The project started as a private initiative of the company EuroAsia Interconnector with strong European support. 2022 received a grant of € 657 million from Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and € 100 million from the Cyprus recovery plan.
In the fall of 2023, the private company retired as it revealed that it could not implement the project by finding financiers, and ADMIE took over as an implementing body through the special corporate Great Sea Interconnector set up in January 2024.
‘Shipwreck’ outside of Kaso
In the spring of 2025 the ADME frozen payments to the French company Nexans (cable construction) and the Italian research vessel working for underwater tracks left. Athens said it remains committed to proceeding with maritime investigations while expecting better conditions. In the meantime, Ankara escalated NAVTEX interference and blocking investigations in the area east of Kassos and Karpathos.
Turkish interventions have a real functional footprint because they raise the risk and time means cost and therefore burdens that are not easy to load consumers without strong regulatory valves. Political actors in both Athens and Nicosia and European capitals have recorded the blockage of investigations and are doubting whether the cable in Crete – Cyprus can be trampled on without new tensions with Turkey.
EU support is not a white check
OR Commission It strongly proclaims that it is a project of a common European interest with unprecedented funding. In September, however, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it is investigating possible criminal offenses related to funding and decisions of the pre -ADME period.
Research does not name faces, although there are speculations and rumors and is ongoing. The political message is that European support is not a white check but is accompanied by landmarks and rigorous control.
Nicosia’s “two languages”
The president Christodoulides He insists that Cyprus is committed and that the project is of strategic importance because it makes the Great from energy isolation.
At the same time the Cypriot Minister of Finance Makis It warns that there are studies of non -viability of the project and that it is risky to commit funds without diminishing uncertainties as to whether the project can proceed.
Government sources in Nicosia note that placements Christodoulides and Lightweight are a message to Athens and ADMIE, That Cyprus is ready to contribute but requires symmetrical commitments and purely landmarks by the implementing body.
Who will pay for “marble”?
Athens seeks not to incite unilaterally delays and overruns that will be passed on to Greek taxpayers and consumers.
THE ADME has already recorded significant costs for cable and work And it has sent a signal that without regulatory certainty he cannot continue to pay the contractor. Under this pressure he tries to raise as much money as possible from Cyprus, but without being able to assure that the project will proceed.
The shadows of complaints
In public debate in Cyprus and at Greece There are rumors of intellectual interests and politicians. In particular, there were reports associated with a relative of Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis (father -in -law) with earlier involvement in the private phase of the project (Euroasia interconnector).
G. Gerapetritis has categorically rejected rumors and announced legal actions against those who are still in inaccuracies today. All of this is recorded as public complaints and denials and do not constitute proof on their own. In the meantime the only sure thing is that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) It explores the earlier time of the project when it was under Euroasia.
At the same time, Cyprus has a completely tangible risk in front of it. The European Commission is calling for € 67.2 million to be returned by November 67.2 million for the LNG terminal in Vasilikos. The government says the amount will not derail the budget but remains a serious financial burden. This acts as a teaching and fear of GSI. If there is a similar requirement at some point from Brussels for returns and on the cable, the effects will be multiple.
Where are we at a technical and institutional level
The elements that make the electrical interface as a project ready for implementation are specific. There is a target, there is a recognition of importance, there is funding, there is an implementing carrier, a cable ready to pont and a strong political statement Mitsotakis – Christodoulides. On the other hand, there are frozen payments to Nexans, research vessels that returned to their ports in Italy, ADMIE’s objection to RAEK and European Public Prosecutor’s investigation. Together they make up a project of high strategic value but also a high functional and institutional risk.
Today’s statement Christodoulides It is pressure on ADMIE for symmetrical commitment. Nicosia has accepted the payment of € 25 million a year in construction and a higher recovery after commercial operation, but it wants written guarantees for a timing timetable, tackling the Turkish factor in the sea, clauses if there are re -hinders and clear accounting. Until then, it cannot release funds because it simply runs a cost of costs.
To unblock the first tranche of € 25 million, three things are needed: a) updating a technical cable pont the cable with specific task plans and clear plans to deal with Turkish interventions. (b) Expenditure transparency with a project account that bridges the gap between the € 82 million recognized by RAEK and the certified costs raised by ADMIE. c) A common political context of Athens – Nicosia with clauses that disconnect the technically the work from unpredictable geopolitical events.