US envoy: Greece to help Europe overcome energy crisis

Greece’s timely efforts to diversify its energy mix is making it an important country in Europe’s efforts to wean off Russian fossil fuels, US Ambassador to Greece, George Tsunis, told state-run news agency AMNA in an interview published Wednesday.

“Greece will be the solution to help Europe overcome this energy crisis. And this will be very important for the economy of Greece and it will also be very important for its geostrategic importance,” Tsunis said and referred to Greece as the “most important and reliable partner for solving the challenges of the region.”

“Greece is a leader in energy diversity, in energy security, which is national security, as well as in energy transition, and I am proud of the relationship that the US has with Greece because it is values-based and oriented toward results and to jointly solving problems that exist in this region.”

Asked if the United States is ready to contribute to Europe’s energy independence and the diversification of energy sources, Tsunis replied that the US is already contributing to this direction and explained that his country is the largest supplier of LNG to Europe of any other country in the world.

“We are trying to transport LNG to Europe and Greece as quickly as we can. A percentage of 60% of Greece’s LNG comes from the United States and this percentage is increasing,” he noted, adding that what was done years ago with the exclusive supply of energy from Russia was a “strategic mistake”.

The US ambassador said that the countries have realised that it is wrong as they deal with the consequences which are real and serious. He expressed hope that the consequences will be as short-lived as possible, underlining that the United States provides support “not only in words, but in deeds”, with the supply of LNG but also with the support of projects that diversify energy sources, contribute to the energy transition and the phasing out of carbon emissions.

“For Greece, these problems are significantly less than in other nations, due to the exceptional leadership,” he continued, pointing out that our country is in the top ten countries in terms of investments in the field of renewable sources energy.

He also listed a series of projects that contribute to strengthening Greece’s energy profile, such as the expansion of Revythoussa, the two FSRUs for Alexandroupolis, one of which will be ready in about 15 months, but also another one that is about to to be built in Corinth.

Also, the Greece-Bulgaria interconnection pipeline that has been completed, as well as the interconnection pipeline with North Macedonia.