Cyprus, Greece and Israel develop a strong partnership in the Eastern Mediterranean, because they have common interests and values, and are reliable allies. They become — even more than partners — friends. The sixth trilateral summit meeting, which took place in Jerusalem only three months after meeting in Beersheba, showed harmonious cooperation.
From the very beginning, the United States advocated the establishment between the three countries of the democratic bloc in the Eastern Mediterranean. In recent months, this support has become official. Ambassador David Friedman attended the meeting in be’er Sheva in December of last year, and Secretary of state Mike Pompeo took part in the summit in Jerusalem. America’s role in foreign policy of the tripartite scheme was clearly institutionalized.
American interest due to the continuing discoveries of natural gas in the Levantine basin. For example, last month, ExxonMobil has discovered another gas field — Glaucus — off the coast of Cyprus. These findings may provide the United States not only business opportunities but also energy security. Washington demands that its partners have pursued a policy of diversification. The more Western countries import of what America considers safe sources such as the it field, the more they will reduce their dependence on Russia.(Known as the United States opposed the “Nord stream-2”, and then have already moved on to real action-Ed.).
However, discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean constrained by the aggressive policy of Turkey. Ankara is not something unusual or conducting military exercises in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, or the failure of the operations for the drilling of foreign companies such as Italian ENI. That is why the presence Pompeo in Jerusalem had a special meaning. The initial agreement on the potential construction of a pipeline EastMed upsets Ankara, because Turkey will be excluded from the proposed corridor.
In Washington, everyone agrees that we cannot perceive foreign policy orientation of Turkey in the West for granted. The decision of President Erdogan on the purchase of missiles s-400 from Russia confirms it’s a reinvention. Currently, Erdogan insists that Turkey continued to implement the transaction and defied American pressure. The United States support of the EastMed pipeline can serve as a warning to Ankara to normalize their behavior.
The project will be very expensive and complicated. Indeed, Italy is contrary to its previous commitments — now, it seems, does not dare to join him. However, as long as the United States will advocate for the implementation of the project, obstacles will be overcome.
Regardless of the choice of Erdogan, Cyprus, Greece and Israel will continue to deepen cooperation. This point is crucial. NATO pays special attention to solving problems in the South, and in this context aktiviziruyutsya the Mediterranean dialogue of the Alliance. The contribution of Israel can be beneficial to all involved countries. These include Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.
Greece and Cyprus will have the opportunity to remind its partners in the EU, why the security of Israel should be the main priority. Of course, it is strange that Brussels plans to play an active role in the middle East, where he regularly ignores the sensitivity of the only democratic state in the region. Ironically, terrorist acts in Europe in recent years has highlighted the need to study the Israeli model of solution for this problem.
Three countries, in particular Greece and Israel can benefit from the positive momentum and to discuss the implementation of the initiative “One belt and one road” in the Eastern Mediterranean and the course of Chinese investment. Greece and Israel are of great interest for Chinese companies. Shanghai international port group (SIPG), which signed an agreement with the Israeli authorities on the operation of the port of Haifa in 2020, combined with the company China Ocean Shipping Company to promote the transport of container traffic. In the period, when China is largely seen as the enemy in the West, successful investment of COSCO in port of Piraeus have questioned this view.
Author: George Zogopoulos — DrGeorgeN. Tzogopoulos is research fellow BESACenter lectures at the University of Thrace them. Of Thrace (Komotini, Greece), specializiruetsya on the media studies, international relations and politics of the PRC.
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