Filenews 11 January 2022 - by Andreas Pibishis
The position expressed by President Anastasiades, speaking on Sunday to Phileleftheros, is currently the official position of Nicosia regarding the future of the Eastern Mediterranean pipeline. The future of this project will be judged on the basis of its financial viability, while at the same time a window is left open to seek other options. An approach that gives room for manoeuvre and avoids confrontation with Washington, which apparently (through the informal document) is against the EastMed pipeline for environmental, economic and Turkish-born reasons.
The American non-paper (which was published by the diplomatic editor Sotiris Sideris on the Omega press website) had been sent to all the countries involved with the EastMed pipeline and to Turkey, an action that raises questions about whether the reasons invoked by the Americans are economic and environmental or ultimately based on Turkish reactions.
With the non-paper, Washington is essentially proposing to abandon the design for the implementation of the EastMed pipeline, which is under study anyway. And of course the American side develops an argument explaining why the work should not be done. One of the reasons put forward by the US is that the pipeline project is economically unprofitable. This is an argument that is not being heard for the first time. However, it raises questions as to why it is formulated by the USA, since if the construction of the pipeline is finally decided, the cost and the financial part do not concern them at all.
According to Greek media, however, Athens' main concern is that with the non-paper Washington is clearly turning a blind eye to Turkey. This is because it favours abandoning the plan and because of the tensions it is causing in the Eastern Mediterranean region, as claimed in the document. This is a report that seems to wink at Ankara and its own reactions.
Talking to government officials, what we note is that in Nicosia they do not seem to see that the document "winks" at Turkey. They note that in the document, the Americans consider the project to be uncertain from a commercial point of view. That is, that from an economic point of view the cost will be such that it will not allow its construction.
Government circles with which "F" spoke noted as positive the fact that the Americans are recording Turkish provocations in the region. The Assessment of the Cypriot government is that the Americans want to send the message to Turkey to avoid causing tensions over projects that are still not certain whether they will be done, such as the Eastern Mediterranean pipeline.
In any case, however, officially Nicosia's position is the one that President Anastasiades mentioned in his interview with "F", that the EastMed pipeline "is still in the stage of study", noting at the same time that "the implementation of this really complex program depends mainly on its financial viability, a fact that remains to be documented after the study of the final findings".
Nicosia, as Nicos Anastasiades said, considers that "the study of other options does not harm the interests of any of us". And he made it clear that "at the critical time the decisions that will be taken will take into account all the parameters".
Clarifications from state department
The State Department clarified the non-paper, which allegedly expressed to the parties involved U.S. reservations about the economic and environmental viability of the EastMed gas pipeline. In response to a question from Greek correspondents, a State Department spokesman made it clear that the U.S. remains committed to the 3+1 regional cooperation scheme and that it considers Europe's energy security a national security issue.
However, he noted that Washington is emphasizing on clean energy technologies that will prepare the Eastern Mediterranean region for the transition to the new energy era. As he noted, "at a time when Europe's energy security is - more than ever - a matter of national security, we are committed to deepening our regional relations and promoting clean energy technologies.
The US continues to actively support regional efforts to strengthen cooperation and stability, such as the 3+1 format in which the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, Israel and the US participate. We remain committed to the natural energy interconnection of the Eastern Mediterranean with Europe. We shift our interest to electricity interconnections that can also support (the supply of) natural gas and renewable energy sources. We support projects such as the planned EuroAfrica interconnection from Egypt to Crete and the proposed EuroAsia interconnection that will connect Israeli, Cypriot and European electricity networks. Such projects will not only connect vital energy markets, but will also help prepare the region for the clean energy transition."
