An Oxford University professor of Global History gave the 6th Thessaloniki Metropolitan Summit the phrase that captured the essence of two days of discussions. “Europe, Asia, and Africa are in reality a single geography,” stated Peter Frankopan, observing that Europe’s reach is expanding through its relationships with countries such as Algeria and Kazakhstan. He questioned how Europe’s relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan will evolve, highlighted the dimension of mergers within Europe under the pressure of international competition — which demands unified and larger markets — and addressed China’s aggressive trade policy, noting that a large share of global demand for Chinese products comes from American consumers.
Pierrakakis: “In today’s geopolitical landscape, we cannot afford to be 27 — we must be one”
The dialogue between Mr. Frankopan and Greece’s Minister of National Economy and Finance and President of the Eurogroup, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, opened the conference, organized by the Economist in partnership with powergame.gr on September 3 and 4 at the “Ioannis Vellidis” Convention Centre, under the theme “Leading up to 2030: Connectivity and growth for South-east Europe.”
“In today’s geopolitical landscape, we cannot afford to be 27 — we must be one,” said Mr. Pierrakakis, speaking about the cost of a fragmented Europe and the need for capital markets union, banking union, a common energy policy, and a coherent European strategy for technology. “We cannot wait for the Draghi proposals to be implemented at 100%, but what matters is that Europe closes the gap that is required,” he added.
“Turkey and Greece are neighbors and NATO allies, not enemies”
Former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice President of the Toledo International Centre for Peace, Shlomo Ben Ami, spoke of a dramatic erosion of American power credibility following the war in Iran, as “the American bases in the region, which were supposed to protect US allies in the Gulf, became a magnet for Iranian attacks.” He noted that the IMEC trade corridor, linking India with the Middle East and Europe, has brought Israel into direct rivalry with Turkey, and that the rekindling of this rivalry has elevated the importance of the trilateral cooperation framework with Greece and Cyprus.
Former Turkish Minister for European Affairs Egemen Bağış declared that “Turkey and Greece are neighbors and NATO allies, not enemies,” arguing that the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean can become seas of cooperation. He called for Ankara to have a seat at the table in decisions on European security and pointed to progress on the F110 engines for Turkey’s KAAN fighter jet. Ian Lesser, Vice President and Executive Director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, assessed that “we are heading toward a more European NATO, without that meaning the US will withdraw.”
Energy, the Vertical Corridor, and the numbers
The energy session drew the greatest interest. North Macedonia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Sanja Božinovska, announced her country’s official accession to the Vertical Gas Corridor, ending — as she put it — three decades of dependence on a single supply route. The pipeline stretches 123 km in total, of which approximately 68 km runs through North Macedonian territory, providing direct interconnection with the LNG terminals at Revithoussa and Alexandroupolis, with operations expected to begin in 2027.
Bulgaria’s Minister of Energy, Iva Petrova, stated that remaining projects will be completed by end of 2026 and that export capacity to Romania will double by then, stressing that “infrastructure alone does not create security — it creates the conditions to achieve it.”
The US Department of Energy’s Special Envoy for Energy Integration, Joshua Volz, compared the endeavor to the unification of the American states and reminded attendees that “the United States remains anchored in the region.”
DESFA’s Managing Director, Maria Sferruzza, reported a 166% increase in corridor activity in 2026 compared to 2025, while Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Reconstruction, Infrastructure and Transport, Artem Rybchenko, described cooperation with South-east Europe as mutually beneficial.
Enaon CEO and Head of International Activities at Italgas, Gianfranco Amoroso, announced investments of approximately €1 billion for the period 2026–2032, with the distribution network set to grow from around 9,300 km to over 11,400 km and customer connections rising from approximately 660,000 to more than one million.
Romanian Distribuție Oltenia CEO Ondrej Safar attributed the region’s high energy costs to longstanding underinvestment in grid infrastructure, citing Greece as a positive example of a net energy exporter.
Investment, infrastructure, and the digital economy
Canada’s Ambassador to Greece, Sonya Thissen, emphasized that Canadian presence “may be less visible, but it is very significant,” with investments in Athens International Airport, Eurobank, Eurolife, and Avramar, while also calling for ratification of the CETA trade agreement between the EU and Canada, which is still pending in ten member states.
Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Extroversion, Dimitris Skalkos, reported a record level of foreign direct investment totaling €11.4 billion, with Canadian investments accounting for approximately €2 billion.
Vice President and Greece Director of Eldorado Gold, Christos Balaskas, recalled that the company has been operating in the country since 2012 and has invested $3 billion to date.
TITAN Group’s Executive Committee President, Marcel Cobuz, reminded attendees that 23 years ago Europe promised a European future to the Balkans, and called for emphasis on scale, speed, and carbon footprint reduction.
Romania’s Consul General in Thessaloniki and former European Commissioner, Corina Crețu, argued that “a well-connected region is a more competitive region,” while Romania’s Foreign Minister, OanaSilvia Țoiu, noted that her country is the EU’s largest natural gas producer, with a target to increase output by 80% in the coming year.
In the discussion on technology investment, META’s Director of Public Policy for Southern Europe, Laura Bononcini, noted that Europe has fallen behind the US and China, advocating for a European approach to Artificial Intelligence based on open-source models.
What Hatzidakis and Kontogeorgis said
On the Greek side, Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis underscored that Greece has been a net electricity exporter since 2024 and is the EU’s fourth-largest energy exporter in 2026, with a target of 80% renewable energy in electricity generation and 6 GW of storage capacity by 2030.
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Thanasis Kontogeorgis cited approximately €49 billion in resources from the new EU budget, 50 Local Development Plans, more than 8,000 regional projects, and 330 flagship projects slated for the 2026–2027 biennium.
Powergame.gr Director Fotis Kollias noted that the summit’s success has opened up Thessaloniki’s conference market, drawing visitors to the city ahead of the opening of the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair.
