EastMed

Greek-American relations, developments in the Balkan region and the situation in the Middle East take center stage during the second day of the 5th Southeast Europe and EastMed Forum that is organized in Washington, DC by Kathimerini English edition, the Delphi Economic Forum and the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC).

A project to build a 2,000 km pipeline to bring natural gas from East Mediterranean fields to Europe is still alive, the CEO of Italian energy group Edison said on Friday.

Edison CEO Nicola Monti said that the group, which is one of the promoters of the pipeline, was actively talking with Cyprus and Israel about the project.

The market test for the EastMed pipeline - the project to transport natural gas from East Mediterranean gas fields to Italy and Central Europe through Greece - is expected to take place by the end of 2023, officials of owner IGI Poseidon told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

IGI Poseidon belongs in equal shares (50%-50%) to Greece's DEPA International Projects and Italy's Edison.

Positive developments are foretold for the EastMed gas pipeline, following the recent 180-degree turn of the Italian parliament, which unanimously passed a resolution in support of the major project.

Israel pledged its support to its European allies in their quest for energy security and independence through Energy Minister Karin Elharar during yesterday's ministerial meeting with Costas Skrekas and Cypriot Minister Natasa Peleidou.

This was noted by Ms. Elharar in her statements promising gas exports from the fields of the Israeli EEZ to European markets.

The establishment of a single company that will take over on behalf of the Greek state both the rights of exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons and the participations of DEPA in the international pipelines of natural gas is expected to be announced tomorrow morning by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

For the first time, a tripartite meeting of Energy Ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus will be attended by companies from the three countries, putting on the table specific investment plans in the fields of gas and electricity.

Turkey aims to torpedo efforts to build the EastMed gas pipeline and impose its own illegal plans and demarcations

Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos detailed Turkey's role as an agent of instability in the Eastern Mediterranean at a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) online conference today on EastMed security challenges.