Energy security and resilience in the Eastern Mediterranean were at the core of the meetings held by the Greek delegation led by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, in the United States.

Cooperation among Eastern Mediterranean countries—through the 3+1 platform, the East Med Gas Forum organization, and the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum—appears to be gaining momentum, taking on a concrete structure, and establishing clear rules for the region.

After all, this is not the first time Eastern Mediterranean countries have discussed energy. However, it is the first time that energy diplomacy has moved beyond the narrow confines of economic transactions and carries geopolitical implications. In this new energy geometry, Greece aspires to play a decisive role as an axis of stability.

Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center

With the prevention of any weaponization of energy as its guiding principle, the signing of the declaration establishing the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center (EMEC) followed at Rice University. The declaration was signed by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Michalis Damianos, Greek Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou, and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy, through the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act, proposed the creation of a United States–Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center to promote strategic energy cooperation among the United States, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, with a broader scope covering the entire Euro-Mediterranean basin. The bill received bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress, with current U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio serving as one of its main advocates during his tenure in the Senate in 2019.

Greek Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou brought the discussion about establishing the Center back to the forefront in cooperation with his U.S. counterpart, Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The shared commitment to advancing energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean during P-TEC in Athens in November 2025 was followed by the Greek minister’s visits and discussions in the United States in both March and June 2026. The latter resulted in the signing of the declaration that sets in motion the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center.

Recent regional instability has highlighted the importance of resilient energy systems throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The goal is for the Center to serve as a platform for strengthening regional energy security, expanding infrastructure development, and highlighting commercial opportunities.

With congressional support, the Center will strengthen the economic and energy resilience of regional partners by facilitating investment, improving market integration, and supporting the development of advanced energy systems and infrastructure. Its activities will focus on increasing cross-border energy trade, improving system reliability, and positioning U.S. companies to compete in high-value regional projects.

Within this framework, the Center will seek cooperation among the 3+1 governments, technical and financial institutions, academia, and the private sector.

Executives from major American energy companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Cheniere, participated in the ceremony following the signing of the declaration.

Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum

Earlier, on Monday, June 8, the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) took place at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building in Washington under the chairmanship of Greek Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou and hosted by the United States and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Alongside the Greek and American energy ministers, participants included Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Michalis Damianos, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawy, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Ali Al-Kharabsheh, heads of government delegations from Israel, Italy, and Palestine, as well as representatives of the European Union and the World Bank.

The meeting took place nearly three years after the last session, during which Greece had assumed the presidency.

This forum is particularly significant because it is the only forum in which the governments of Jordan, Israel, and Palestine participate together, alongside the permanent members (Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and France) and observers (the European Union, the United States, and the World Bank).

The crisis in the Middle East had led to repeated postponements of meetings and mutual objections between Israel and Palestine. However, the importance of energy security in the region and the protection of energy infrastructure brought all states back to the table except France, which did not participate. According to the joint communiqué, members “discussed ways in which member states can leverage the EMGF to enhance the development of interconnected and resilient energy systems in the Eastern Mediterranean, based on natural gas, while simultaneously highlighting the region as a strategic energy corridor linking the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.”

At the same time, participants emphasized their renewed willingness to strengthen cooperation within the Forum, with full respect for members’ rights over their natural resources in accordance with international law. They also committed themselves “to promoting constructive cooperation to strengthen energy security and energy-system resilience, while highlighting the interdependence between natural gas and electricity networks at a critical moment.”

Notably, beginning on August 1, Israel will assume the presidency of the EMGF following a unanimous decision that included votes from Jordan and Palestine. Sources from Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy stressed that energy cooperation transcends the region’s troubled past and present. Papastavrou stated that “we are building a framework of cooperation with full respect for international law, based on mutually accepted principles and commercial rules that strengthen stability and discourage unilateral and revisionist behavior.”

Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum

The Eastern Mediterranean dominated Wednesday’s panel discussion on the future of European energy resilience, featuring Cyprus Minister of Energy and Industry Michalis Damianos. The panel took place within the framework of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum.

Discussing the common priorities of Greece and Cyprus regarding interconnections and energy security, the Greek Minister of Environment and Energy analyzed the region’s new energy geometry, centered on Greece and the government’s efforts toward energy autonomy.

At the heart of this energy geometry is the Vertical Gas Corridor, which strengthens energy security throughout Southeastern and Central Europe by creating a community of 100 million people and a network of interconnected infrastructure serving European and transatlantic energy resilience.

The polygon formed by the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum—with its eight member countries and three observers—creates a framework of cooperation and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean that advances the region by strengthening cooperation rather than competition.

The Greece–Cyprus–Israel triangle, which becomes a quadrilateral with the addition of the United States—the so-called “3+1” framework—has highlighted the strategic value of regional partnerships. Major projects such as the GSI and GREGY electricity interconnections are creating an integrated energy ecosystem extending beyond national borders.

In addition, the major diagonal represented by IMEC (India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor) is taking shape. This ambitious connectivity project links India to Europe through the Middle East, utilizing ports, railways, highways, and digital infrastructure.

“Thus, the Eastern Mediterranean and our country are, in reality, at the center of this new geometry,” the minister stated.

At the same time, emerging initiatives such as IMEC and Greece’s cooperation with the United States are forming a global circle, highlighting Greece’s role as a gateway connecting Europe with the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and even broader regions.

The 3+1 Framework

On Thursday, the Greek delegation traveled to Texas, specifically Houston, to participate in the second energy meeting of the 3+1 framework consisting of Greece, Israel, Cyprus, and the United States.

According to reports, interconnections once again dominated the discussions, along with joint actions aimed at strengthening and even expanding regional cooperation.

During the ministerial 3+1 meeting, emphasis was placed on cybersecurity and the protection of critical energy infrastructure. It was decided to establish a task force for this purpose.

A common theme in the ministers’ statements was the acknowledgment that the weaponization of energy is unacceptable. Papastavrou raised the issue from the outset, emphasizing that “the weaponization of energy is not acceptable in the region,” while U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted that “cooperation through trade prevails over conflict.”

This is expected to form a new doctrine of cooperation and become the cornerstone of an energy mosaic that excludes no one except provocations and unilateral claims in the Eastern Mediterranean. A new meeting was also scheduled to take place in Israel in December 2026.

A new geopolitical reality is now emerging, with cooperation at its core as a necessary prerequisite. States that cannot adapt to these new conditions and the commercial rules that increasingly define international relations are choosing isolation. All participants in the 3+1 framework endorsed this view as fundamental, with the message of unity and shared objectives prevailing.

It is worth recalling that Papastavrou had also met with senior executives from all three major energy companies with the aim of accelerating the development of the hydrocarbon sector.

It is now clear that the Eastern Mediterranean will play a different role and become a key factor in stability, prosperity, and the strengthening of the transatlantic relationship between Europe and the United States.