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The US informed Greece, Cyprus and Israel that it no longer supports the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Pipeline (EastMed) project for both ecological and financial reasons, in addition to the excuse that the project causes tensions in the region. The EastMed agreement was signed by Greece, Cyprus and Israel in January 2020 in Athens and is supposed to transport hydrocarbons from Israeli and Cypriot fields to the Greek mainland via Cyprus and Crete, and in the long run possibly even to Italy. Turkey immediately opposed the proposed 1,900 kilometre long pipeline.
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None-the-less, the biggest question that emerges is why Washington changed its position on the EastMed pipeline when under President Joe Biden, the US in an unprecedented manner, was supposedly distancing its relations with Turkey in favour of Greece. According to various Greek media outlets, the change in Washington’s position is in the hope of avoiding clashes with Erdoğan, or at least avoid clashes until the end of the June 2023 Turkish election. According to Greek media, the State Department and the National Security Council are driven by the idea that Turkey, regardless of Erdoğan, should not be lost to the West.
The US Congress approved a bill in 2019 on cooperation with Eastern Mediterranean countries in the energy sector. At the time, they believed this cooperation would be a counterweight to Russian energy dominance in the European market. The new bill sought to make the US a key player in the Eastern Mediterranean gas market, strengthen military ties with Greece, and lift a four-decade arms embargo on Cyprus. The bill supposedly reaffirmed Washington’s intention to curb Turkey’s expansionist and aggressive ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Yet, Washington is now retreating and Greek authorities have not yet reacted publicly.
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Those seeking for Greece’s balance with the US, China and Russia, under the umbrella of European autonomy and Macron’s vision of a Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok, are vindicated once again as the US is not, and never has been, a trusted and reliable partner for Greece. In fact, this has even been noted by French media, with Observateur Continental writing: “They proved that Greece was not as important to Washington as Turkey. The United States has proven once again that no government, not even an ally, can trust them.”
It appears that the Foreign Ministry is aware of this fact. It is noted that Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has maintained friendly relations with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, with the pair maintaining regular contact – the most recent being only a few days ago to discuss the situations in Libya, Syria and Kazakhstan. Lavrov commented: “we also see that Greece does not want to follow the path of worsening anti-Russian sanctions, Greece in principle does not feel satisfied with what is happening now between the West and the Russian Federation. We trust our Greek friends and that with their wisdom they will make the choice that meets their beliefs.”
Greek State, particularly from the Defence Ministry, that aims to capitulate to Washington’s interests. Although this element had been strengthening over the past two or so years, they were once again dealt a major blow following the repeated US pattern of abandoning its championship of liberalism, human rights and the rule of law for the sake of appeasing Turkey against Greek interests. This is in the hope that Turkey will stay in the Western camp.
US Once Again Abandons Greek Interests With EastMed Pipeline To Appease Turkey
The US informed Greece, Cyprus and Israel that it no longer supports the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Pipeline (EastMed) project for both ecological and
greekcitytimes.com
The gas that came to Europe became a 'weapon' with the Ukraine crisis. Europe now urgently needs to diversify its gas supplies. There is a need for Iranian gas, Turkmen gas, as well as Israeli and Egyptian gas.
Turkiye is a reliable gas supplier even for Greece. Today, Greece buys a very important part of the gas it uses from TR. If Turkiye and Greece had acted together, for example the TAP/ITGI project predicted this; Europe could be in a much stronger position today, and both Greece and Turkiye could benefit from this.
In this turmoil, Greece is delaying a key gas source to Europe, driven by incompetence, TR envy and its own shallow self-interest. With already installed pipelines and facilities, Turkiye was the shortest way, and much better cost-efective compared to other alternatives for these resources to reach Europe.
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