The United States welcomed Greece’s progress on projects that will enhance regional energy security such as the operationalisation of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, the ongoing planning for the North Macedonia–Greece Interconnector and the country’s efforts to ensure that the Floating Storage Regasification Unit in Alexandroupolis is operational by the end of the year.
This was stated by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias and the US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken at the launch of the fourth United States–Greece Strategic Dialogue in Athens.
“The United States welcomes the leadership role that Greece is playing, including through the newly constructed Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, which is putting Bulgaria on a path to import nearly 100 per cent of its domestic gas needs through Azerbaijan and through the United States,” said Mr Blinken.
He also welcomed Greece’s commitment to work in partnership with USAID to further integrate its electricity markets, while Greece pointed out the importance of natural gas discoveries by Israel, Cyprus and Egypt as potentially valuable sources to diversify the region’s energy mix, emphasising also its own gas exploration projects off the coast of Crete as important to unlocking the full potential of the Eastern Mediterranean.
“We’re also working together on a clean energy transition, where there is an enormous appetite among American companies to invest in Greece’s very significant move toward renewables,” added Secretary Blinken. “And Greece’s surging tech sector is also a major source of our investment and a key focus of our efforts to expand economic cooperation between our countries.”
In this regard, Minister Dendias highlighted the inauguration of the country’s largest solar park in Kozani and the US encouraged him to continue making progress on its ambitious goal of phasing out coal by the end of 2028.
On the environment side, Greece outlined priority environmental initiatives announced during the COP26 such as the GR-eco strategy designed to transform key islands into sustainable green destinations and its goal of designating 10 per cent of its seas as non-fishing zones. Both parties underscored the importance of advancing the decarbonisation of the shipping sector by 2050 at the latest, looking forward to continuing to support the Green Shipping Challenge at COP 28.
