Strengthening the cooperation between Greece and the US in the energy sector was at the center of the Prime Minister’s meeting Kyriakou Mitsotakis With US Interior Minister Doug Bergam, during which the excellent level of Greek -American relations confirmed.

The prime minister emphasized the strategic nature of Greek -American relations and defense and energy cooperation between the two countries. He also underlined that Greece, with its initiatives and infrastructures it is developing, is converted into an energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Europe, an energy exporter and an energy security provider across the region.

The prime minister emphasized the strategic importance of interconnections, electric and digital, and made special reference to the projects Great Sea Interconnector and Gregy Interconnector.

He still informed Mr. Bergam about the importance of an axis that will connect Alexandroupolis with Odessafollowing a proposal he had made during his visit to Odessa in June.

During the meeting was also discussed The Role of Greek Shipping in LNG Transfer.

At the start of the meeting, the Prime Minister and the US Secretary of the Interior had the following dialogue:

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: First of all, I would like to welcome you to Athens. Your presence here today coincides with the anniversary of September 11th. It is, of course, a day of highly charged emotionally. I would like to start by expressing my disgust and sadness over the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. Political violence has no place in our democracy and freedom of speech must be protected at all costs.

But come to a very interesting moment. I believe it is an opportunity to reaffirm the strategic partnership between our two countries, but also to focus particularly on energy and energy cooperation. I find a very interesting coincidence that You come one day after Chevron officially expressed its interest in launching research activities in the area south of Crete, thereby confirming the sovereign rights of the Hellenic Republic in the area.

It also makes us happy that we can talk about Greece’s regional role as a pillar of energy security for the wider region. We are now a country that exports natural gas. We are a large node of import and export gas to the area. We export electricity, we export petroleum, and this makes us a very powerful “player” in the Eastern Mediterranean.

We look forward to further strengthening this partnership between our two countries, for the benefit of, I believe, and our two peoples. Therefore, I welcome you to Greece again.

Doug burgum: Mr Prime Minister, on behalf of President Trump and the Trump government of the United States of America, I would like to thank you for your hospitality today. We share your goals. The United States consider Greece a strategic partner. We believe that the relationships we have today can grow and expand, especially in the field of energy and energy security.

The Trump government has certain goals associated with energy, and one of them is energy proficiency, the sale of energy to our friends and allies, so that they do not have to buy from our opponents. The North -South corridor, the role of Greece, with its long history in shipping, access to the sea, with the pipeline system that extends north from here, there are many opportunities for the participation of Greek companies and Greece in Energy Security for Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe. We are excited about the opportunities that exist there.

Of course, the United States are perfectly committed to replacing Russian gas with American gas. Literally, hundreds Billions of dollars are invested in our country both for production and exporting LNG. This represents one of the many opportunities for cooperation between our two countries. “