ATHENS – The repercussions of the international crisis on the energy market, the progress in building new infrastructure to increase energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean and the prospects for supplying Europe with natural gas from the region’s reserves were discussed in Jerusalem on Monday, at a trilateral meeting of the energy ministers of Greece, Israel and Cyprus.

Greek Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas held talks with his Israeli and Cypriot counterparts, Karine Elharrar and Natasha Pilidou, respectively, on the repercussions of the international energy crisis, which has escalated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The three ministers also talked about the deepening of trilateral strategic cooperation and the flagship projects that being promoted in the region of Eastern Mediterranean, which will boost energy security and contribute to a diversification of energy sources and supply routes, such as the EuroAsia Interconnector linking the Greece, Cyprus and Israel power grids and the EastMed natural gas pipeline.

The possibility of transporting LNG by ship from the Eastern Mediterranean to European markets by taking advantage of the natural gas liquefaction facilities in Egypt was also examined at the meeting.

The ministers further agreed to examine the possibility of an LNG terminal in Cyprus in order to make optimal use of the natural gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean.

After the meeting, Skrekas stated: “We discussed ways to enhance our strategic cooperation in the energy sector, which is of major importance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is fuelling the severest energy crisis of the last decades. Exploiting the natural gas reserves of Israel and of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean may significantly contribute to a diversification of energy sources and routes and end European reliance on Russian fossil fuels.”