The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel pledged on Thursday to work together to seize opportunities emerging from newly found offshore gas reserves to bolster stability and security in a region wracked by conflict. Meeting in Nicosia, the talks were the first tripartite summit between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Their discussions centered on cooperation to exploit the new gas reserves, as well as migration, the war on terror, and tourism. The countries also signed a cooperation agreement on managing water resources. "We ... have agreed to strengthen the cooperation between our three countries in order to promote a trilateral partnership in different fields of common interest, and to work together towards promoting peace, stability, security and prosperity in the Mediterranean and the wider region," the three said in a joint statement. "In light of the underlying challenges and opportunities, and given the fluid and unstable situation in the region, our three countries, which share common democratic values, principles, and interests, have, to this end, agreed on the importance for closer cooperation and a coordinated set of policies. Our partnership is not exclusive in design or nature, and we are ready to welcome other like-minded actors to join our efforts to promote coordination and cooperation, as well as regional peace and stability. "We agree to work closely together with a view to strengthening our cooperation on common projects, involving both public and private actors. In particular, we are examining practical means of cooperating and implementing joint projects and synergies in the fields of energy, tourism, research and technology, environment, water management, combating terrorism, and migration." Netanyahu said the leaders agreed to set up a tripartite committee to study the possibility of building a pipeline to carry natural gas found in the waters off Israel and Cyprus to Europe via Greece. "These are momentous goals, and by working together we can advance them more effectively than we can separately," Netanyahu said. He said that "as the son of a historian, I'm averse to using the term 'historic,' but I believe it applies here. The last time the Greeks, Cypriots and Jews sat around the same table was about 2,000 years ago. Now history is being made by forming a trilateral committee between the three countries. The committee will plan two outlines: the pipeline that will export our common gas resources from Israel, through Cyprus and Greece to Europe; and the underwater cable that will link Israel's, Cyprus' and Greece's power grids to create a joint grid." Netanyahu, Tsipras and Anastasides made it clear that the new collaboration efforts would not come at the expense of any other party, particularly Turkey. "This energy outline can, even now, carry parallel pipelines to Egypt and Turkey, in terms of the reserves we're talking about. They are not mutually exclusive," Netanyahu said. "In addition, if the development of our [offshore gas] fields will result in the development of other [gas] fields, than there is a third option, which clearly exists: a direct pipeline to Europe."
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The projected cost of the Israel-Greece pipeline is $6 billion. The pipelines to Turkey and Egypt are expected to cost $2 billion each.
