Government moves are unfolding on the ‘chessboard’ of energy

By Dimitris Gatsios

The government is setting up a financial back-up strategy to further support households and businesses, while opening its τιά papers on the energy security front, through moves that will make the country a transport hub in the European Union and a strong “player” in its region. Eastern Mediterranean.

“Every crisis is an opportunity. And when we see what is happening at this time with energy, of course, in the short term, we will support households and businesses to absorb as much as we can, price increases, but at the end of the day, the concept The green transition is becoming more important not only in terms of climate, but also from a geopolitical point of view.

We need more energy independence “, was the message sent by Mr. Mitsotakis, from Zappeion Megaron. The Prime Minister is going to Kozani tomorrow, where he will inaugurate the largest photovoltaic park that will operate in Greece.” My encouragement, especially to foreign investors “They should take a good look at what is happening in Greece because you will find, I believe, extremely interesting opportunities, as well as people trained in the field of finance, but also at the government level to help you investigate what is happening in the Greek market,” he noted.

Athens is constantly focusing on energy developments, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine acting as an accelerator of Greek movements in the wider region. Our country has been investing for a long time in the energy cooperation with Egypt, which will make it a transit route from Africa to Europe, the announcements for the development of deposits west of Crete and in the Ionian are a matter of the next twenty-four hours, while today the prime minister will have two very interesting quarters at the Maximos Palace. The first is with US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland and the second with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lipid, who is in the Greek capital for the Greece-Cyprus-Israel tripartite summit. in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

As expected, in the meetings of Mr. Mitsotakis with the Undersecretary of State of the United States and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, the major energy issues will dominate, while it is characteristic that after these two “appointments” another one will follow. That of the Prime Minister with the Energy Commissioner of the European Union, Kadri Simpson, next Thursday.

Washington wants the European Union to impose a full embargo on Russia. “Our country will be fully in line with its allies and partners in this direction as well,” said government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou from the press room. “I think we need to be very careful to ensure that whatever measures we take do not end up being more painful for European citizens than for Russia.

I believe that the package of sanctions that we have imposed is strong. I believe that we should now focus on avoiding “leaks” in the implementation of sanctions, that all countries that are members of this alliance participate in sanctions. At the same time, as far as Europe is concerned, what we need to do is act as quickly as possible to reduce our dependence on Russian oil and gas.

This is the decision we made in Versailles. And, of course, we must ensure that we use Europe’s collective power in the markets to reduce gas prices. “Because the real problem we are facing now in Europe is the link between very high gas prices and very high electricity prices,” he said at the last summit.