The issue of the electrical interconnection between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel — one of the projects drawing sharp opposition from Turkey — is expected to take center stage at next week’s meeting in Paris between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron. The meeting is being held at Macron’s initiative, as the French fund Meridiam — which now controls the cable consortium — faces key decisions on how to restart construction work in October.
Turkey’s stance remains the critical question
Athens has confirmed it will proceed with issuing a NAVTEX notice to resume operations. However, the NAVTEX is expected to be accompanied by a map delineating the waters under Greek and Turkish jurisdiction. The pivotal question concerns the position Turkey will take regarding the area covered by the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum — sea zones where Greece, and even more so Cyprus, assert they hold sovereign rights.
France believes that, owing to its defense cooperation with Turkey and the notification of neighboring countries regarding the cable’s route, Ankara will ultimately back down. Athens, for its part, maintains that all neighboring countries must be informed of the cable’s routing as required under international law — but not asked to approve it. Seeking such approval, Greek officials argue, would effectively nullify the agreement under which the cable company was sold to the French consortium.
