PM Mitsotakis met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Qatar

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a meeting a short time ago in Qatar with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The meeting, held in a friendly atmosphere, discussed the preparation for the World Cup matches, which begin in Qatar in November, as well as the developments in world football.

With his eyes on the new energy balances and with the declared intention of Greece to open up to the Gulf states and the Arab world, Mitsotakis traveled yesterday afternoon for his first visit to Qatar.

This is a visit that was organised following Mitsotakis’ phone call with the Emir of Qatar, Al Thani, a few weeks ago, right after the visit of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, to our country.

The main topic on the agenda of the first meeting that Mitsotakis will have with Mr. Al Thani is undoubtedly energy, hence he is accompanied by the competent Minister of Environment and Energy, Kostas Skrekas.

Given that the government has announced its will to diversify energy sources in order to reduce dependence on natural gas so as not to jeopardise Greece’s energy security, high-level contacts have been launched with key players in the field. One of them is Qatar.

In this light, the Mitsotakis-Al Thani meeting will be a good opportunity to discuss the prospects for deepening and systematising cooperation in the energy sector.

After all, this topic was also the Prime Minister’s intentions with the Emir of Qatar in their telephone conversation on July 27.

As government sources point out, the visit can open a window of cooperation, as Greece can be Qatar’s bridge and gateway to Europe, both through the Revythoussa station and the FSRU in Alexandroupoli, when it is ready for use.

At the same time, regional and international developments will also be on the agenda. It is noted that Qatar is a country that plays an important role in the region and maintains communication channels and close relations with important players.

In the recent past, of course, Qatar maintained extremely close relations with Turkey, but the activation of Greece in the Arab world is done without discrimination, since the goal is to open a channel of communication with key centres of the wider region.