On Monday, Greek-American Congressman Gus Bilirakis hailed the Greece-US energy alliance and noted that what is good for Greece, Cyprus, and Israel is also good for the US.
In a video message to the 33rd Greek Economic Summit taking place in Athens, the Florida representative said that Greece is a very strong ally in the region and shares defense infrastructure against existential threats.
He stressed he was proud of Greece’s energy alliances, as well as the partnership between Greece and the US. He underlined that Greece is the most suitable country to “offer Europe the energy it desperately needs.”
He also emphasized that he expects the completion of the construction of the liquefied natural gas terminal (LNG) in the port of Alexandroupolis, which will provide natural gas to Southeast Europe.
Gastrade, owned by Greece’s Copelouzos family, is developing a floating storage and regasification unit which will be anchored about eighteen kilometers off the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis, carrying gas to shore via a 28-kilometer-long pipeline. It is expected to carry gas to Bulgaria and further to the north once it begins operations by the end of 2023.
Gastrade has said it is examining the construction of a second FSRU off Alexandroupolis.
Gus Bilirakis on Greece as an energy hub
Bilirakis expressed his optimism that promising developments in the utilization of LNG infrastructure in Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt will allow Greece to evolve into a leading energy hub of which Europe is in great need.
He further highlighted the importance of the EastMed pipeline and said he hoped the Biden administration would rethink its stance, especially in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Gus Bilirakis, who was overwhelmingly re-elected at the Midterm election in November, chairs and co-chairs the American-Jewish and Greek-American relations committees.
He noted that he is working with like-minded US lawmakers to raise the issue of Turkish provocation and other actions, which are against US interests in the region, by President Erdogan.
In January 2022, Bilirakis, along with Hellenic Caucus Co-Chair Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) and Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH), led a group of colleagues in writing a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken opposing US plans to sell F-16s to Turkey.
He is working to facilitate a better understanding of the American congressmen regarding the political relations between Greece, Cyprus, and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Bilirakis also announced that he will soon meet with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during his visit to the US.
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