The clouds in Greece-Cyprus relations were dispelled by the 3rd Intergovernmental Summit held in Athens. Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Christodoulidis reaffirmed the excellent Greek-Cypriot cooperation and restarted the procedures for completing the cable laying works for the electrical interconnection (GSI) between Greece and Cyprus.
The decision announced on Wednesday includes updating the economic and technical parameters, while simultaneously attracting strong investors. The talks held in Brussels by the Energy Ministers of Greece and Cyprus with the relevant European Commissioner moved in the same direction.
Greece-Cyprus electrical interconnection: Professor Efthymipoulos warns of pressures and challenges, exclusive to parapolitika.gr
Head of Strategy International and professor of international security and strategy at Vytautas Magnus University Lithuania, Marios Efthymipoulos, who has been living in Cyprus in recent years, tells parapolitika.gr that the project must be completed with specific timelines.
According to Mr. Efthymipoulos “since 2014 we already knew about the very high cost. If we combine this with the fact that 11 years have passed, the cost has become even greater. Geopolitical developments indicate that there is now a reality which shows that Greece and Cyprus must demonstrate determination as EU member states. The two Energy Ministers went to Brussels because a compromise solution had to be found. However, the fact that they are now re-entering the planning and operational phase is a good omen. But now only concrete works are needed“.
At the same time that Cyprus is discussing with Greece the lifting of its energy isolation, it turns its gaze toward Turkey, in order to assess the intentions and reactions to continuing the GSI cable laying works. Analysts argue that it is no coincidence that the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulidis declared to the Financial Times “I prefer a Turkey that will be close to the European Union“. Meanwhile, Mr. Christodoulidis mentioned that Cyprus, as the presiding country of the European Union Council in the first half of 2026, will request Brussels’ participation in the next multilateral summit for solving the Cyprus problem, seeking in this way strong support within the European Union.
On its part, Turkey is exploring today the intentions of the new leader of the Occupied Areas, Tufan Erhurman, who is visiting Ankara for the first time since his election. His divergent stance from Ankara on solving the Cyprus problem makes this meeting particularly interesting, and the real intentions of the new Turkish Cypriot leader are expected to be revealed.
According to Professor Marios Efthymipoulos “every president of the Republic of Cyprus has had as a basic goal, since 1974 onwards, the resolution of the Cyprus Issue. This particular president had mentioned that he wants a European mediator. The new factor for Mr. Christodoulidis is that he sees at this moment that the new President in the Occupied Areas, Tufan Erhurman, comes with an alternative approach, which is not the intransigent form of Ersin Tatar“. He also argues that negotiations must be conducted with the Turkish Cypriot community since Turkey’s policy as a guarantor power, as invoked by the new Turkish Cypriot leader, will not change.
