Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is calling on Brussels to help encourage companies to move fast and include the island in plans to supply Europe with natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean.
Anastasiades, who visited Berlin last week, was interviewed by German newspaper Die Welt in which he said Cyprus could deliver natural gas to the EU much sooner “if there was more support from Brussels.”
Nicosia, he said, could move more quickly if there was something comparable to the memorandum of understanding signed in the summer between the EU, Israel and Egypt.
Anastasiades said he believed Brussels could do more to overcome delays in Cyprus by drawing on the deal with Cairo and Tel Aviv. “Another or similar mechanism could encourage companies to set up the necessary supply structures more quickly,” the president said.
In June, Cyprus, a member of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), was left out of a cooperation agreement between the EU, Israel and Egypt that aimed at expediting delivery of regional gas to the bloc amid sanctions against Russia.
Earlier this month Chevron admitted it was walking back on a promise to drill an appraisal well offshore Cyprus before the year was out. The original plan made known through a Bloomberg interview had been criticized by Israel over the summer, as the two countries have yet to resolve a dispute over shared gas deposits.
But Anastasiades also went on to accuse Turkey of being a “major obstacle” to Cyprus becoming a natural gas supplier, saying Ankara was carrying out “aggressive actions” and calling on Germany and the EU to help resolve the Cyprus problem. “Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, violates international maritime law, and carries out illegal exploratory drilling off our coast,” Anastasiades said.
Last month Energy Minister Natasa Pilides switched gears at an EMGF meeting held on the island, heeding European calls for short- and medium-term goals for Cyprus, essentially placing long-term plans for an EastMed pipeline on the backburner.
With time running out as gas-thirsty Europe faces a cold winter this year and in the near future, it remains to be seen whether Cyprus can resolve technical and political questions quickly enough. But “delivery could be faster,” said Anastasiades, calling on the bloc to help into the island’s resources more quickly.
