Cyprus, Greece and Israel to sign an agreement for the EastMed gas pipeline

Cyprus, Greece and Israel on Tuesday confirmed they would be preparing and signing an inter-state agreement for the EastMed gas pipeline within 2018.

Following the fourth trilateral summit, held in Nicosia, President Nicos Anastasiades, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of the pipeline project, saying in their joint declaration that it represented “a viable and strategic option of special interest, both for our countries and the European Union”.

The EastMed Pipeline project aims to transport gas from Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe via Crete and mainland Greece.

Tsipras said the pipeline was the main topic of the summit and spoke about the strategic cooperation between the three countries.
“There is a common understanding on the need to deepen this cooperation, as well as on the need to find ways for secure transportation of energy resources from the Southeastern Mediterranean to Europe,” he said.
It was also important that they had agreed to sign an intergovernmental agreement within 2018, he added.
Netanyahu called it “a very serious endeavour.”
“Not only is it important for the three countries and Italy but also for Europe that wants to diversify its energy sources,” he said.
All three also referred to the Euro-Asia Interconnector, an electricity cable connecting Israel, Cyprus and Greece.
“We reconfirmed our commitment in the next steps forward and recognised its benefit in upgrading our countries’ role in this area,” Anastasiades said.

Tsipras called on Turkey to respect the sovereign rights of neighbouring countries, in accordance with international law.

The next trilateral summit will take place in Beersheba, Israel.

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