The relations between Athens and Washington, the upgraded role of Greece in the wider region of Southeast Europe, was highlighted, among other things, by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, in an interview today on Fox Business and the show “Mornings with Maria”.
In response to a question about his meeting with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Mr. Papastavrou replied that “Greece is a strategic ally of the US in the energy sector. It has emerged as a strategic pillar and a force for stability in the region and has the infrastructure and geographic location to allow US LNG to reach Southeast Europe and thus wean us off Russian gas. I think we all, by now, understand what has been said for years in the United States: that energy security is national security.”
The Minister of Environment and Energy said that energy diversification is necessary for the security of the region and stressed the importance of the Vertical Corridor. “In this sense, we have American LNG coming through Greece, through Revithoussa and the FSRU station, and from there through Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova to Ukraine, providing the energy diversification that is necessary. At the same time, we are working with ExxonMobil and Chevron to develop the hydrocarbon sector in Greece. We will drill our first exploratory well in half a century and we hope that our country will be a natural gas producer in the coming years,” he added.
Asked why even today when Russia continues to attack Ukraine there are still EU member states that buy energy from Moscow, Mr. Papastavrou noted that “I think it is because Russia managed to offer very low prices and many people confused low price with security. When you don’t have a secure supply, then you don’t really have a low price. Security of supply is a key factor for the energy security of any country.” And he noted that the European Union has now decided to fully decouple from Russian gas by the end of 2027.
Mr. Papastavrou also added that apart from hydrocarbons, Greece must exploit all its domestic resources: “What does Greece have, apart from being a beautiful country? It has air, sun, hydroelectric potential and, potentially, hydrocarbons. We need to exploit them all. We need to make use of our geographical position. And these should lead to more affordable prices for Greek households and the Greek economy.”
“We didn’t do it for 50 years and that was a mistake. Now, we are accelerating and moving fast. As I said, with ExxonMobil, we hope to have the first exploratory drilling in February 2027, less than a year from now. And Chevron will conduct seismic surveys south of Crete by the end of the year. So we are moving fast,” he explained.
“The Prime Minister and the government in Greece have completely changed the economic history of the country. Congratulations,” the Fox Business reporter finally said, with Papastavrou responding: “10 years ago Greece was on the verge of bankruptcy. Today, it is growing faster than other European countries. Unemployment has fallen from 18% to below 8%. Kyriakos Mitsotakis has cut more than 80 taxes.”
