Monday, September 4, 2023

Israel, Cyprus and Greece mull energy pacts - and yoghurt - REUTERS

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, September 4, 2023. Petros Karadjias
September 4, 202310:37 PM GMT+8
Michele Kambas

NICOSIA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The leaders of Israel, Greece and Cyprus on Monday pledged to deepen energy cooperation and explore ways to get East Mediterranean gas to Europe, as well as connect electricity grids.

The eastern Mediterranean has yielded major gas discoveries in the past decade, mostly off Israel and Egypt, with interest rising since Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit flows to Europe.

"We will have to decide soon about how Israel exports its gas and the same decisions have to be made by Cyprus. We are looking at the possibility of cooperating on this," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters in Nicosia after a tripartite summit with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides.

"Those decisions will be made, I think, in the next three to six months, probably closer to three months," he said.