Yossi Amrani: National interests determine energy projects
File photo: Israeli ambassador to Greece, Yossi Amrani. Photo via ANA-MPA
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“EastMed is a name, EastMed is a concept. Whether EastMed will go from point A to point B and from point B to point C or it will go from point A to point D and from point D to point C is something for the private sector, the financial sector and the governments to decide,” Israeli Ambassador to Greece Yossi Amrani said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) on the sidelines on the 7th Delphi Economic Forum.
“I have much respect to everyone’s point of view but the paramount point of view is the interests of the countries of the region. And the countries of the region will make through their own direct communication bilaterally and trilaterally and beyond, the right decision to serve their national interest. Now the question of energy is more crucial because of the war in Ukraine. And there is much more attention and much more talk. This does not get us any closer to any decision or any specific project. What we have is regional reservoirs and a need in Europe for energy and a political or strategic need for diversity. We need to make sure that what we can offer, what is needed in Europe finds its way to the markets,” he underlined.
As for how this will be done, he said that this is open for discussions. “And this is what we are engaged in now. What I am advising all of us is not to spend another 12 years like we spent over the EastMed. This has nothing to do with this country or another country. It’s about the interests and the economic benefit.”
The Israeli Ambassador also stated: “I hear different opinions and by some expert -and there are certain experts in Greece that I trust their knowhow and insight- even if we are committed fully to green energy and renewable sources there will always be a need for gas to fill in energy needs. I will not rule out certain energy resources just because of a certain political climate. Now Europe is facing energy shortage or certain concern of energy shortage and what you see is that some countries go back to coal. Gas is much cleaner than coal. So let’s not rule out anything and make sure that our energetic independence and our energetic survival is being safeguarded through different means.”
The full interview to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency and Sofia Papadopoulou follows:
Bilateral relations
I see tangible results. I would not underestimate what we have. Sometimes people are too impatient – I myself am quite impatient and I would like to see more results- but the very kind of close exchanges, the intensive summits and meetings, the dynamics of exchanges, the chemistry between leaders, the openness and the very fact that we think together about the region, not just about ourselves, but about the region and how the region can be safer, more stable, more prosperous and how we can contribute to that. Not everything is done by just a decision. It takes time but we made progress and I am very happy with this progress. I am not saying we reached the limit. We are far from the limit but there are tangible results. And there is a huge potential. The potential itself is a result which was not there 10 or 20 years ago.
I had some meetings recently with some people in government and we identified certain areas of future cooperation, beyond the cooperation we have on real estate, tourism and other aspects. I think the topic number one should be energy and infrastructure cooperation. Two should be food security -lessons of the Ukranian war- so that we have enough oil, enough wheat to bake our cakes and bread. Also defence cooperation and hi-tech. I think there is room for more cooperation. I think we should not settle for tourism and real estate and say how great it is. We need to invest more on R&D which leads to tangible economic business partnerships.
Wars have not been excluded as a political mean
Wars are part of our civilisation history. Having 70 plus years of relatively peace in Europe does not mean that wars have been excluded as a political mean. Europe has been saved from wars especially after the terrible of WWII. There were wars elsewhere. Other regions of the world are not less relevant than Europe. There were wars in the Middle East, there were wars in Africa, there were wars in Asia.
It’s regrettable, our hearts go out to the suffering of innocent people, to the suffering of the Ukranian people. I hope personally that there will be soon an end to this war but to exclude the threat of war, to exclude the use of force or military power to achieve political goals is naive. Therefore it’s important for countries as part of their national strategies to develop their military capabilities at least for self-defence.
Russia cannot be put in the corner after the war
The dust is not settled yet and the war is not over yet. And it’s too fast to draw conclusions and to describe how the world is going to look after the end of te war in Ukraine. I think it’s presumptuous, I think it’s baseless and it’s not factual. Russia is an important country in the world, a country with tradition, history and relevance to world affairs. Once the war is over, once there is a political agreement to the crisis, alienating one country or bringing one country to its knees is a mistake. Let’s look back 100 years ago and remember what happened years after. There is no need to turn Russia into a constant, permanent enemy of the West. There is an international community and within the international community for our own sake we need to keep balance and Russia should be part of world balance. It cannot be put in the corner, it should not be ignored and it should not be written off.
Whoever can help negotiations is more than welcome
As an Israeli I believe in direct negotiations, I believe parties and countries involved in any conflict should negotiate directly with one another. There is a role for facilitators, there is a role for mediators. Israel played a role at the beginning, Turkey now plays a role. If the parties are happy with this mediation I don’t see any concern or any problem. Whoever can help in bringing the two fighting, confronting parties, Russia and Ukraine, on the negotiating table and resolve their differences is more than welcome.
Source: ANA – MPA
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