Greece and Israel are set to sign a bilateral energy cooperation agreement in Athens on Tuesday, concentrating on the highly anticipated but notably delayed Great Sea Interconnector project, according to several unconfirmed media reports.
The meeting will be held between Greece’s Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakis and Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen, the latter of which is reportedly in Athens for a one-day visit.
The Great Sea Interconnector project aims to connect Greece, Cyprus and Israel via deepsea electrical cabling, yet progress on the project has been stalled due to disagreements between Cyprus and Greece over a variety of issues, including cost sharing and managing the potential negative impact of geopolitical risk, particularly the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
In addition to the Great Sea Interconnector, the agreement to be signed on Tuesday is reported to include additional areas of collaboration, such as renewable energy sources, energy storage, and hydrogen projects.
The news has not been officially announced or independently confirmed by Greek government sources, which are instead focusing on the visit of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Athens on Tuesday.
The signing of a bilateral energy cooperation agreement on the projects has been in the works for well over a year. Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure noted, in June 2023, that it had commenced discussions with Greece to collaborate on the Great Sea Interconnector and Israel-Europe natural gas pipeline project.
Israel had planned on signing a cooperation agreement with Greece in Israel last year, but noted in an official statement on the matter that the signing “was postponed due to the war” between Israel and Hamas.
The timing of today’s news is interesting, considering that on Monday the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that Israel is close to a cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
