The meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace set in motion moves that Athens and Paris have been quietly working on since mid-August, with Nicosia in step. The aim now is for the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), the undersea power cable project intended to link the electricity grids of Greece, Cyprus and Israel, to return to the sea, with surveys resuming from the point where difficulties first arose in 2024.

Coordination and the new NAVTEX

For almost a month, contacts have been taking place at the highest political level. According to reports, around 15 August, Mitsotakis, Macron and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides held direct talks on restarting the project. Momentum had built earlier and intensified after Meridiam, the French infrastructure investment firm, became the GSI’s majority shareholder, with focus now shifting to the critical operational stage.

That is the backdrop to the one-to-one meeting between Mitsotakis and Macron. The Greek Prime Minister’s office, the Maximos Mansion, announced that the two leaders discussed “the next steps” for implementing the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection following Meridiam’s entry as majority shareholder.

Macron’s personal interest in the project is not new. At a ceremony on 5 August, Meridiam’s chief executive, Thierry Déau, described him as a strong supporter of the GSI, revealing that the French President calls him “every day” about the cable. That followed a visit by Macron to Athens, after which the contacts that led to the agreement with Meridiam gained fresh momentum.

In practice, Meridiam and Nexans, the French company contracted to build and lay the cable, are now being asked to finalise the last operational details, so that a new NAVTEX, a maritime notice used to warn shipping of restricted or hazardous areas, can be issued by Athens and survey vessels can return to sea. The plan is for surveys to resume this autumn.

The wider agenda at the Élysée also covered the Eastern Mediterranean, Iran and the Middle East, with the Prime Minister raising the impact of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz on energy costs and the need for European initiatives.

The difficult 40% and Kasos

About 60% of the seabed surveys have already been completed. What remains, however, is the more difficult 40%, which includes the most sensitive stretch of the route, south of Kasos, a small Greek island between Crete and Rhodes. It was there, in the summer of 2024, that the work of the survey vessel Ievoli Relume prompted the deployment of Turkish warships, with Ankara citing claims based on its 2019 maritime memorandum with Libya.

This time, the balance of forces is different. According to reports, consideration is being given to having the remaining surveys carried out not by the Italian company NextGeo, but by a French company or consortium. No decision has yet been taken. In Nicosia, sources say a French survey vessel would have the backing of the French government.

If that goes ahead, the French footprint would extend to the most sensitive stage of the GSI: Meridiam holding 66% of the investment, Nexans building and laying the cable, and potentially a French company or consortium carrying out the seabed surveys.

The key question is what would happen if Ankara sought to repeat the events of 2024. Converging reports suggest Macron is not concerned about the prospect of a Turkish reaction. This is not an official Élysée position, but it reflects the mood in which preparations for the resumption of work are being made.

The French newspaper Le Monde took a similar view in August, describing the resumption of the surveys as a potential new test of Greek-Turkish relations. It noted an assessment that the presence of a powerful French shareholder could limit Ankara’s scope for obstructing the project.

A packed 48 hours

The past 48 hours have condensed the flurry of activity surrounding the cable. Christodoulides discussed it with Mitsotakis in Cairo. The following day, his diplomatic office met French embassy officials in Nicosia specifically to discuss the GSI. A few hours later, the same issue was on the table at the Mitsotakis-Macron meeting at the Élysée.

The Cypriot President described Meridiam’s entry as decisive for both the economic and geopolitical dimensions of the project, and signalled what lies ahead: the GSI, he said, is “closer than ever” to being realised.

The next test now lies at sea: the new NAVTEX and the return of survey vessels south of Kasos.