Leaders of Greece, Cyprus, Israel hail geo-strategic cooperation

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has described the construction of the East Med gas pipeline as a project reflecting the significance of the geo-strategic cooperation between Greece, Israel and Cyprus.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Nicosia on Tuesday with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Tsipras said “this project is not just about energy…it is a project of utmost geostrategic cooperation” between the three countries.

A deal for the pipeline’s construction is expected to be signed in 2018.

The East Med 2,000 km pipeline, known as East Med, will be able to transfer between 9 to 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually from the off-shore gas reserves in the Levantine Basin (Cyprus and Israel) into Greece and, in conjunction with the Poseidon and IGB pipelines, into Italy and other South East European countries. Tsipras also repeated the call to Turkey to respect international law

For his part, Netanyahu lauded the strengthening of the ties binding the three countries, describing the East Med as a significant project.

It was the fourth trilateral summit between the three leaders and,according to Tsipras, it “hase become an institution.”