Azerbaijan plays an important role in diversifying gas supplies to Greece and in general in ensuring the energy security of European countries, Kostas Antony Lavdas, professor of European and Comparative Politics and director of Graduate Studies in International Relations and Strategic Studies at Panteion University in Athens, told Report.
According to published statistics, in the first quarter of 2023, Azerbaijani gas exceeded the share of Russian gas in the Greek market for the first time.
According to the professor, today the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP), designed to transport Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to Europe, is one of the main factors in the energy diversification of the EU.
“Of course, compared to other EU countries such as Germany, Italy and Hungary, Greece is relatively safe from being overly dependent on Russia for energy. But it also needs to continue diversifying. In this context, Azerbaijan is an important country,” he said.
Lavdas reminded that since December 2020, the first natural gas flows from Azerbaijan to Greece and Italy have been transported via the TAP gas pipeline. There were periods of ups and downs, but in general its importance for these countries, to which Bulgaria then joined, increased, he said.
“For Greece, January 2023 was an important milestone in the sense that Russian pipeline gas imported to Greece through Sidirokastro approached 0% of total Greek imports, while TAP gas reached 22% in it,” said the professor.
According to the expert, there is a real potential for further improvement of relations between the EU and Azerbaijan, the same applies to relations between Baku and Athens.