Greek Parliament Votes To Ratify Agreement On Construction Of EastMed Gas Pipeline

ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) The overwhelming majority of lawmakers in the Greek parliament voted on Thursday to ratify the interstate agreement on the construction of the Eastern Mediterranean pipeline to supply gas directly from reserves in Israel and Cyprus.

The agreement was signed on January 2 by Greece, Israel, Cyprus, with Italy intending to join the project. Turkey has harshly criticized the initiative, saying that it ignores the rights of Ankara and Turkish Cypriots.

"The agreement is not aimed against anyone, but is an indirect response to Turkey's provocation," Greek Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said in the parliament in a statement, obtained by Sputnik.

Voting in favor of ratification were the ruling New Democracy party, the opposition Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA), the center-left Movement for Change (KINAL) and the right-wing Greek Decision party, whereas the Communist Party and the left-wing European Realistic Disobedience Front (MeRA25) voted against.

"This agreement is pushed by the United States," Nikos Karatanasopoulos from the Communist party said during the discussion.

According to the lawmaker, the EastMed pipeline is "part of the US' logic to ease the dependence of the EU from Russian gas and reduce Russia's presence in the greater region." He described the pipeline as "a project on paper, but also a harbinger of an escalation in the region which puts pressure on Turkey to present its claims and draws the country into a tangle of competition."

Minister Hatzidakis has confirmed the US' backing of the project, but said that the pipeline has a historic significance for Greece as it boosts the country's international political standing and strengthens its strategic cooperation with Cyprus and Israel in addition to creating jobs and promoting competition on the domestic gas market. It also diversifies energy supplies to Europe, making Greece the energy crossroads of the continent, he added.

Hatzidakis said that a 3+1 meeting involving ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the US was due to take place soon.

The Eastern Mediterranean pipeline, referred to as EastMed, will be used to pump gas from the Israeli reserve of Levantine Basin and the Cypriot reserve of Aphrodite to continental Europe. With expected capacity of 10 billion cubic meters, the pipe will combine offshore and onshore segments with a total expected length of 1,200 miles and depth up to 1.8 miles. The estimated cost of construction is $6 billion.