President: US, France interested in Greece, Cyprus, Israel cooperation

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has said that he expects that the US will express in practice its interest to take part in the trilateral cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel.

President Anastasiades, who was addressing the 6th Energy Symposium, entitled “Faced with great decisions on energy”, said that cooperation with countries from the region have proven to be particularly successful with significant benefits for the participating countries, adding that this has resulted in other EU countries expressing interest to take part.

“I attribute particular importance in the interest shown on the part of the US to take part in the trilateral (cooperation mechanism) between Greece, Cyprus and Israel,” he noted, adding that “I expect that soon this will be confirmed in practice.”

At the same time, President Anastasiades pointed out, France has also shown an interest in taking part in the trilateral cooperation mechanism between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.

In January, he continued, a summit between the seven Mediterranean countries of the EU is expected to convene in Nicosia.

He noted that Cyprus’ cooperation with neighbouring countries is not directed against anyone. He also said that the wealth found within Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) belongs to all its legitimate residents.

He also said that he has reiterated many times - and has been stated in all trilateral summits that the “goal is cooperation of everyone in the wider region and not the isolation of anyone.”

“Why couldn`t Turkey be part of the cooperation? Why shouldn`t it be part of developments on energy matters, since it will also benefit from the wealth in the region, which, I reiterate, concerning Cyprus’ EEZ belongs to all legitimate residents of the Republic of Cyprus?” 

This is the kind of peaceful and stable environment we are obligated to build together in order to achieve a mutually beneficial exploitation of the Eastern Mediterranean’s hydrocarbons, he added.

President Anastasiades also referred to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, pointing out that it is the international law Cyprus abides by but certain countries for reasons of their own have not ratified it.

ExxonMobil has been awarded, together with Qatar Petroleum the exploration licence in block 10 of Cyprus’ EEZ.

Navtex 376/18 issued by Cyprus on November 10, at 06.00 hours local time (04.00 hours GMT), informs mariners about the drilling operations of Stena IceMax at the “Delphini” target. Drilling operations commenced in mid-November.

The Navtex is valid until February 25, 2019. A safety zone of 500 meters is established around Stena IceMax and entering this area is prohibited for any reason.