Energy cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean was at the focus of a meeting held on Friday, in Nicosia, between Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Cyprus, Michael Damianos and US Senator, Rick Scott.
“We exchanged views on energy cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean, at a time when security of supply and diversification of energy sources and routes are gaining even greater strategic importance” the Minister said after the meeting.
The US Senator noted that Cyprus is a great ally of the United States and stressed the importance of Cyprus’ sovereignty and its security, both from a military and energy standpoints.
Minister Damianos referred to the 3+1 cooperation scheme between Cyprus, Greece, Israel and the United States, saying that it can contribute to regional energy security, the protection of critical infrastructure and the development of reliable energy corridors to Europe.
“Cyprus actively supports it, with the aim of promoting joint initiatives and projects, as well as closer coordination between the partners” the Minister went on to say.
Moreover, he said they discussed the potential for the development of the natural resources of the Eastern Mediterranean and the importance of regional connectivity.
The operations, he said, of US energy companies in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus, with Chevron in the ‘Aphrodite’ gas field and ExxonMobil in the ‘Glafkos’ and ‘Pegasus’ gas fields, “is an important area of cooperation between the two countries and contributes to the development of Cypriot natural gas fields”.
Noting that Cyprus, is the only EU Member State without an electricity interconnection, he said that overcoming energy isolation is a strategic priority. In this context, he added, they underlined the importance of the Great Sea Interconnector project for the security of energy supply and the stability of the wider region.
Concluding, the Energy Minister said that our goal is to “further strengthen cooperation with the US and our regional partners, based on international law, mutual benefit and the shared goal of a safer, more interconnected and energy-diversified Eastern Mediterranean.”
In his statements, Scott said that Cyprus is “a fabulous ally to the US, a beautiful country, a wonderful group of people, it has great leadership and most importantly a great ally to the US.”
He said he just came from Greece and then will be going to Israel and that in Greece he talked about the importance of the security and the sovereignty of Cyprus. “Importance for the security from a military standpoint, also from an energy standpoint” he went on to say.
Scott referred to the 3+1 scheme, saying that it is very important for Cyprus, the US, Greece and Israel.
He added that Cyprus has a big opportunity, along with Israel and Greece for energy independence, and talked about the operations of American companies EXXON and Chevron.
The biggest problem here is Turkey’s menace, he pointed out, “whether is making sure we can get the cables laid or making sure that Turkey does not cause other problems in Cyprus or in the Middle East”.
He expressed hope that Turkey will realise that if we want peace and stability in the Middle East it is going to come from independence, respect of sovereignty of nations, also energy independence. “And hopefully Erdogan will stop being such a menace” he continued and said that the Turkish President is trying to get the F-35, but he noted that “you can not get them if you have the S400”.
“He is going to have to pick partners eventually, is he going to be a great member of NATO, a great ally to the US, or not” he went on to say.
Concluding, the US official said that the US hopes that “Turkey will start acting like a responsible member of the NATO a responsible member of the international community”.