Greece–Italy relations

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov pointed to the planned gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece as having the potential to break Russian monopoly.

Mitov highlighed that the swift implementation of the agreement for construction of the gas interconnector, which was likely to be signed in July, was important for the energy security of Southeastern Europe.

Russia and Greece signed on Friday an intergovernmental cooperation memorandum on the construction of a continuation of the Turkish Stream pipeline on Greek territory.

The document was signed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Greek counterpart Panagiotis Lafazanis during the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Russia and Greece signed a deal for a section of the so-called Turkish Stream gas pipeline on Friday, Russian media has reported.

The deal was signed between energy ministers Alexander Novak of Russia and Panagiotis Lafazanis of Greece, for a pipeline with a capacity of 47 billion cubic meters a year.

The project to build a gas interconnection between Serbia and Bulgaria is one of the European Union's top priorities, the EU energy chief  Maros Sefcovic has said.

As a spokesman for the TurkStream pipeline said Wednesday that construction of the Gazprom-backed project will start by the end of the month, diplomatic sources in Athens suggested the Greek government was concerned that Moscow was mulling alternative routes which could potentially exclude Greece from the plans.

Detailed information concerning the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, the latest project to carry Russian gas to Turkey via the Black Sea before it finally reaches Europe, has been presented at the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris. 

Macedonia will join the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project when the European Commission and Russia reach agreement on the scheme, according to Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

In an interview for local news portal Pres 24 he says that Macedonia is a country that makes decisions of strategic importance on the basis of its Euro-Atlantic orientation.

Washington increased the pressure on Athens on Friday to concentrate on the completion of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) rather than devote efforts toward the extension of the planned Turkish Stream pipeline so it runs through Greece.

Washington’s special envoy for energy met with top Greek ministers in Athens on Friday on the heels of the leftist government’s ongoing talks with Russia’s Putin to clinch a pipeline deal, a prospect viewed with apprehension by the US side.

Greece wants to become a "pluralistic energy hub in the region" with a multi-level and independent energy policy based exclusively on national interests, cooperation and energy security in the region and Europe," Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis said on Friday after talks with Amos Hochstein, a US special envoy for international energy relations.