The government’s goal is to implement the project, declared Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, responding to questions about Cyprus’s stance on the construction of the GSI Cable.
Gerapetritis on GSI Cable: There must be complete support for the project from Cyprus
Speaking at an Economic Newspaper conference from the Thessaloniki International Fair where he is attending, Mr. Gerapetritis called on the Cypriot government to support the project unreservedly and clarify its position, characteristically emphasizing “there must be complete support for the project from Cyprus“. He further argued that the construction of the electrical interconnection project has strategic character and is of major importance for Cyprus as it will lift its energy isolation.
As he said, he was surprised by the European Prosecutor’s intervention, which he was unaware of, but noted that it concerns projects carried out in Cyprus before the involvement of ADMIE (Greek Independent Power Transmission Operator). At the same time, he maintained that the project studies are prerequisites and have value, advocating for fair distribution of financial costs.
Regarding Turkey’s reaction to the cable laying works, the head of Greek diplomacy characteristically said “the project will not stop because Turkey has objections” and emphasized that this is a European project involving European states such as France and Italy in its implementation.
The Foreign Minister, asked to respond to intra-party criticism he receives, reiterated that “foreign policy is unified and decided by KYSEA” (National Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense) while also responding to criticism from opposition parties, saying that “we took initiatives that had not been undertaken for decades“.
Regarding Greek-Turkish relations, Mr. Gerapetritis stated that we are in a stagnant situation on the issue of appeal to The Hague and delimitations, and reiterated that the only difference with Turkey is the delimitation of continental shelf and EEZ, while on the fishing issue he maintained that the incident occurred in international waters and advised against inflating issues like those with Turkish fishermen.
