I have just concluded a particularly interesting virtual meeting of the 3 + 1 format between the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Ioannis Kasoulides, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Yair Lapid, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece.
First of all, I had the opportunity to wish a speedy recovery to Tony Blinken, who, as you know, has been infected with COVID-19. I also had the opportunity to emphasize that following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the strengthening of our cooperation in the framework of the 3+1 format is absolutely necessary.
I stressed the importance that Greece attaches to interconnectivity and energy security.
In this regard, I referred to the new Floating Storage and Regasification Unit project in Alexandroupolis, the implementation of which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis a few days ago. I also referred to the energy and electricity connection between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, through the well-known EastMed pipeline, but also the electricity interconnection through the Euro-Asia Interconnector. These two projects, as is well known, follow the same geographical route.
We also examined cooperation in the framework of the 3+1 format in the areas of the economy, new technologies, environmental protection and civil protection. And we agreed on a new meeting to be held with physical presence either in Washington or Greece or Cyprus, before the end of 2022.
The purpose of this meeting will be to further deepen multilateral cooperation, but, above all, allow me to say, what we need to retain from today’s meeting is the spreading of the message that Greece, together with Cyprus, Israel, and the United States, are pillars of peace, security and stability in the region.