CYPRUS: Greece wants to include US in East Med security pact

920 views
1 min read

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos has urged America to join Greece, Cyprus and Israel in regional security and energy cooperation in the East Mediterranean.


Kammenos had separate meetings on Tuesday with US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis at the Pentagon and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan at the State Department.

Asked if the issue of Cyprus’ energy search in its exclusive economic zone was raised, Kammenos said “we are proceeding in cooperation to broaden the trilateral agreement between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, with the United States as well”.

According to Pentagon Spokeswoman Dana W. White, the meeting with Mattis confirmed the longstanding defence relationship between the US and Greece.

Speaking before the meeting, Mattis described Greece as a “steadfast and excellent ally”.

Kammenos told reporters after the meeting that this relationship of trust has assigned Greece the role of a stability axis to the south with Cyprus and Israel, and the countries of the Middle East, such as Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, and to the north with Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia and FYROM.

He said the next step would be to sign joint defence agreements that would contribute towards solving problems and building a new energy policy in the broader region.

Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said Tuesday that Ankara will begin gas exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean by the end of October.

He also warned that Turkey will “protect until the end our resources deriving from international law.”

Last week, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said that it will not allow foreign energy companies to pursue gas exploration offshore Cyprus.

Nicosia has invited energy companies to bid for a new license to drill for gas in Block 7 in its EEZ.

US energy giant ExxonMolbil aims to begin drilling off Cyprus by the end of the year in block 10 with Qatar Petroleum while it reportedly has interested in exploiting block 7.