The Minister of Environment and Energy, Theodoros Skylakakis, regarding the Great Sea Interconnector project stated that it is “of enormous geopolitical importance” and that Greece “has taken the geopolitical risk, having full confidence in itself and its alliances“.

“This cable can, must and will be done,” Skylakakis told the parliament, defending the amendment he tabled, and called on all parties to support it, noting that “anyone who wants the project to be done in real life should vote for it, anyone who does not want it can find any excuse”.

He spoke of “a brief and very productive negotiation that took place with the Cypriot Republic to ensure that this project could be implemented“.

He said the project has very big benefits for both sides, both financially and in terms of energy security. At the same time, he also responded to the strong reservations expressed by the parliamentary representatives of the opposition parties about the geopolitical risk, saying, “the geopolitical risk can be many things. From a third country that doesn’t want the project to proceed, to a terrorist act, as has happened in other cases, and everything that is obvious. What do we say? We say that we have complete confidence in our international standing, in international law, in the alliances we have, in European support, in American backing, in the rationale behind our arguments, and we take on this political and geopolitical risk. This was also part of the negotiation—to take on the geopolitical risk, which means that we have full confidence in ourselves and in our capabilities.”