A great national success and strengthening of Greece’s sovereignty was characterized by the deputy prime minister, Kostis Hatzidakisthe agreements which were signed in Athens within the framework of the Intergovernmental Cooperation for Energy (P-Tec), speaking to ERT.
“The agreements signed the previous two days are a great national success and help strengthen Greece’s position economically and geostrategically. I am sure that in the next period we will see other agreements to strengthen the position of Greece and in relation to our contacts with the United States. We will move forward with other moves that will bring the two countries even closer,” said Kostis Hatzidakis.
Mr. Hatzidakis pointed out that the profit from these agreements is multi-layered: “First, it was demonstrated that the level of Greek-American relations is very high. Secondly, the country’s geostrategic position in the Balkans and the wider region is strengthened. Third, Greece becomes the gateway for American gas to the countries of Southeast, Eastern and Central Europe. And fourth, apart from that there were also the agreements with ExxonMobil and the Greek companies for the hydrocarbon explorations in the Ionian which are not of theoretical value because they are scheduled to take place in 18 months – two years from now”
Speaking about the upgraded role of Greece in the energy map, Kostis Hatzidakis emphasized that the country is entering a new era. As he said, while until now Greece was the final point of Russian natural gas exports to Europe, today it is becoming a gateway for the import of American natural gas to the European continent. Pat the same time, he noted that Greece is now assuming the role previously attributed to Turkeyas Russian natural gas is gradually being abandoned by the European markets.
Referring to the developments in the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, he underlined that, despite the doubts due to the Turkish-Libyan memorandum, Chevron signed an agreement with Greece for mining south of Crete, effectively canceling the memorandum in practice. At the same time, ExxonMobil – which already has contracts southwest of Crete – is advancing at a faster pace in the exploration of deposits in the Ionian. Once exploitable reserves are confirmed, experts estimate that their exploitation could begin around 2030, marking a period of significant geostrategic and economic benefits for the country, as hydrocarbon production will boost the Greek economy and improve the trade balance by reducing natural gas imports.
To a question about the possibility of abandoning the “green transition” on energy the deputy prime minister pointed out that one (hydrocarbons) does not exclude the other. “We are interested in having as clean energy as possible, but from the beginning we said that whatever developments exist with green energy, and there are obviously and will continue, natural gas will be a transitional fuel for some decades and it would be extremely useful for Greece to be present in this field,” he emphasized. He also reminded that with the moves that have been made, we reached 50% of the produced electricity coming from renewable sources and we also reached after many years, mainly due to RES, Greece becoming a net energy exporter”.
Kostis Hatzidakis underlined that the agreements with the USA are proof of Greece’s active foreign policydespite criticism that the government had “slowed down” recently. As he pointed out, the country has already proven its potential with moves such as the delimitation of the EEZ with Italy and Egypt, armaments, maritime spatial planning and the promotion of ecological parks, despite the reactions of Turkey.
Regarding OPEKEPE, expressed optimism that the IACS action plan will be approved by the EU, while subsidy payments are expected to be completed by the end of November. As he said, this year it will be implemented hybrid system based on production evidence so that subsidies reach the real farmers and breederswhile from 2026 a modern European registration system with electronic “chips” will operate.
Finally, referring to the events in Voriziapointed out that they do not characterize Crete and called on both the State and the local community to take their share of responsibility, pointing out the need for education and social awareness to eliminate such phenomena.