An Al Jazeera article notes the geopolitical upgrade of Greece and the transformation of the country into a gas gateway.
More specifically, as underlined in the article, as Europe seeks to break free from Russian energy suppliesGreece is becoming a gateway to natural gas, due to its geographical location.
According to the article, in about a month Greece will have completed the construction of a pipeline that will connect the country with Bulgaria. This project will mark its end Russian gas monopoly in the region, but also in wider in south-eastern Europe.
So far, Russia has supplied Bulgaria with 90% of its natural gas. Russia turned off the taps on April 27 when Sofia announced it would not renew its contract with Russian Gazprom at the end of the year. Poland, which announced the same decision, had the same fate.
Mike Myrianthis, an industry veteran and analyst, explains the Russian president’s decision as follows: “The Russian president did not want to give the impression that he was losing customers, and he decided to cut them off earlier.”
Bulgaria is now waiting for the IGB pipeline for the supply of natural gas, which will come from Azerbaijan and Greece will receive it through the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).
Michalis Mathioulakis, energy strategy consultant, and head of the think-tank Greek Energy Forum, points out that Bulgaria is already completely dependent on Greece for the supply of natural gas. In fact, he notes that this is the first time that Greece is responsible for the energy security of another country.
On January 31st, a consortium of companies from Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Italy announced the construction of a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal off Alexandroupolis.
“I firmly believe that we are seeing a new beginning for European energy independence,” said Charles Michel, President of the European Council, at the inauguration of the LNG Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal in Alexandroupolis.
The more Southeast Europe depends on Greek gas, the article concludes, the bigger the country’s geopolitical footprint in the Balkans will be, analysts note.
Greece, due to its geographical location, is becoming a gateway for natural gas
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