The Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, has stated that Greece is holding talks with the European Union for the extension of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline through its territory, reports Anadolu Agency.
Before his visit to Moscow today, in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS, Tsipras emphasized the importance of the Turkish Stream project to bring Russian gas to Europe for its energy security.
In accordance with the multidimensional energy policy of Athens, Tsipras expressed the support of the country and that of other European countries to cooperate with Russia for the distribution of energy resources, including the pipeline for the transport of Russian natural gas to Europe through the "Turkish Stream" project.
Russia has evaluated several routes for the second line of the project, namely Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary, as well as Greece and Italy.
Despite the statement of the Bulgarian Minister of Energy, Temenuzhka Petkova, during her speech to the Parliament on November 30, when she said that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline would pass through Bulgaria, discussions between Russia, Bulgaria and Greece are still ongoing to determine the destination line for the second line.
Referring to the possibility of an agreement for the second line of the "Turkish Stream" project to exit from Turkey to Greece, Tsipras said that, "We are conducting dialogue with the EU and I believe that our arguments are strong. I believe that we will probably have positive results in the future".
"Greece has largely contributed to the Southern Corridor (Trans Adriatic pipeline), which goes from Turkey to Greece and over Italy," added Tsipras.
The Greek Prime Minister asked for the diversification of energy sources, which, as he said, was within the framework of the EU's energy strategy to ensure energy security in the region.
The Turkish Stream project is an export gas pipeline consisting of two 930-kilometer lines, each with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters.
The pipeline is set to pass under the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and also to further expand Turkey's borders with neighboring countries.
The first line aims to supply gas to Turkish consumers, while the second aims to supply gas to the South and South-Eastern Europe.
