Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte late on Monday 12 November 2018, on the sidelines of the Conference on Libya in Peleomorte, Italy.

The meeting had been scheduled to go ahead on Tuesday (12 November) morning; it was moved to Monday evening, immediately after the statements made by the Italian PM to the almost 40 delegations that took part in the Conference in Palermo, Sicily.

The meeting was the first between the two leaders. It began shortly after 23:00 (local time) and, according to sources, was constructive, with bilateral and regional issues discussed.

The bilateral issues discussed concerned the strengthening of Greece and Italy’s energy cooperation, as the TAP, Turkish Stream and Eastmed pipelines are being designed to link with the submarine natural gas of Greece and Italy, the DEPA-EDISON joint venture, IGI Poseidon. The Greek-Italian JV has entered the next stage of study for the EastMed.

They also discussed the promotion of Italian investment in Greece, with particular emphasis on Italy’s investment in TRAINOSE.

Alexis Tsipras briefed his counterpart on the expansion of Greece’s territorial waters from six to twelve miles in the Ionian Sea and presented Greek issues on the management of refugee and migrant flows. Giuseppe Conte informed of the Italian positions on the matter and there was an exchange of views.

The two Prime Ministers also discussed developments in the Eurozone and exchanged views on the forthcoming European elections as well as on the future of the EU.

On Tuesday, November 13, Alexis Tsipras will participate in the Conference on Libya, at the end of which he will hold a press conference.

Source: Spiros Sideris/balkaneu