Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will sign an agreement for the building of the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline on January 2 in Athens.
The Greek PM’s office announced that the leaders of Cyprus, Greece, and Israel plan to sign the agreement early in the new year.
According to the new plans, the pipeline will run across the Mediterranean, from Israel’s Levantine Basin offshore gas reserves, to the Greek island of Crete and the Greek mainland, and to Italy.
The deal will be finalised with Italy’s signature at a subsequent date, Mitsotakis’ office announced. In May 2019, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had expressed opposition to the Poseidon project, the last section of the EastMed pipeline connecting Greece with Italy.
Cyprus, Greece, and Israel already signed an agreement on the 1,900- kilometer pipeline earlier this year in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The EastMed pipeline is expected to satisfy about 10% percent of the European Union's natural gas needs decreasing energy dependence on Russia.
