{"id":25878,"date":"2023-12-23T03:05:32","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T23:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syndicationbureau.com\/?p=25878"},"modified":"2023-12-24T01:28:56","modified_gmt":"2023-12-23T21:28:56","slug":"greeces-growing-role-in-the-eastern-mediterranean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syndicationbureau.com\/greeces-growing-role-in-the-eastern-mediterranean\/","title":{"rendered":"Greece\u2019s Growing Role in the Eastern Mediterranean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
With wars to its east and to its north, Greece has taken on a new geostrategic significance in the Eastern Mediterranean. The country has become a staging point for the Western alliance but also, equally important, a credible partner in the region. This new status is a remarkable come-back story for a country that was ground zero in a complicated European financial crisis only a decade earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and now with the Israel-Gaza War, Greece is serving as a conduit for men and materiel for the US and other NATO allies. It is becoming a vital link in energy supply chains for the region. And it is increasingly seen as a safe haven destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greece\u2019s emerging role also underscores an evolving security architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean that has quietly taken place over the past decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since at least 2010, Athens has developed multiple and overlapping defense and commercial ties with Cyprus, Israel and Egypt, as well as with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It has cultivated ever closer cooperation with the US, which has been supportive of this new Eastern Mediterranean alliance, as America\u2019s relations with Turkey \u2013 its erstwhile ally in the region \u2013 have frayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These days, the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis has become a hub to supply NATO members Bulgaria and Romania, while the island of Crete is supporting US military operations in the Middle East and North Africa. Meanwhile, Greece is proceeding with a $13 billion defense modernization program and has deepened its military cooperation with each of its regional partners through joint exercises and bilateral exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This new alliance is underpinned by growing trade and investment ties, particularly in the energy sector. Long before the recent conflicts, Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt had found common interest in developing the energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean. The discovery of bountiful natural gas reserves \u2013 first in Israel in 2009, and then in Cyprus and Egypt \u2212 ushered in a new era of cooperation among the four countries. This led to the proposal for the East Med pipeline<\/a> to bring the gas via Greece to Europe, and then the creation of the East Med Gas Forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US has been mainly supportive of this four-way energy alliance. It has since withdrawn its backing<\/a> for the East Med pipeline \u2212 which, in any event, faces technical and financial hurdles \u2212 but still supports two successor projects, specifically two high-voltage underwater transmission cables to connect the power grid of Greece with Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. In either case, Greece would act as the transit point for bringing either natural gas or electricity from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those projects would complement Greece\u2019s emerging role as an energy hub for southeast Europe. Two new natural gas pipelines and two new LNG facilities are providing the country\u2019s northern neighbors with new sources of supply. Greece has also started exporting surplus power<\/a> to nearby countries including Bulgaria, Albania and North Macedonia from its own fast-growing production of renewable energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognizing the prospects, the UAE signed a number of bilateral agreements<\/a> with Greece in 2022 to develop both LNG and renewable energy projects, and the two countries announced a small, pilot project<\/a> at this month\u2019s COP28 climate summit in Dubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, there are growing commercial ties between Greece and Saudi Arabia in a range of sectors, including energy, but also extending to building supplies, engineering and environmental services, and in food and agriculture. Last year, Greece signed a deal with Saudi Arabia to develop an \u20ac800 million high speed data cable \u2013 the East to Med Data Corridor<\/a> \u2013 that will help establish Greece as the Middle East\u2019s digital gateway to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israeli businesses have been coming in growing numbers to Greece. Recent investments have been in the hospitality sector, technology, the life sciences and defense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n