Greece and Italy partner up on energy

Greece and Italy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on energy policy collaboration, following a meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Italian counterpart in Rome on Tuesday.

The MOU was signed by Greece's Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy in charge of Energy and Natural Resources, Gerassimos Thomas and Italy's Minister of Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli.

During his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed economic, commercial and energy policy collaborations in the context of both countries' geostrategic significance, which is thought to favor joint business ventures in the greater Balkan region, southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean.

On the migration crisis, the two Prime Ministers agreed on how there needs to be a common policy and coordination at EU level and condemned the use of the crisis as a political tool for self-serving interests.

They also agreed that the EU accession prospects of western Balkan countries must be sustained, and expressed support for their accession.

The agreement emphasised how the two countries' already close relations in the energy sector are reflected in the presence of natural gas operator Snam in Greece, which operates in Italy and through subsidiaries in Albania (AGSCo), Austria (TAG and GCA), France (Terega), Greece (DESFA) and the United Kingdom (Interconnector UK).

The close energy ties between Greece and Italy were also underlined in the agreement, through the ongoing collaboration on the high-voltage underwater electricity interconnection - which they said needs to be upgraded - as well as in their cooperation on the Transmission System Operators of Greece and Italy (ADMIE and Terna, respectively) towards establishing a regional energy control center for the region of southeastern Europe.