The Greek government and prominent US diplomats have defended the strategic and economic value of the Vertical Corridor energy project following a Wall Street Journal report concerning Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US Ambassador to Greece.
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, former US Assistant Secretary of State Geoffrey Pyatt, and Hellenic American Leadership Council Executive Director Endy Zemenides all issued statements emphasizing the importance of ongoing energy cooperation between Athens and Washington.
The Vertical Corridor is a proposed natural gas pipeline system designed to connect Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. The project allows gas from the Mediterranean to flow northwards into Europe, providing an alternative to Russian energy supplies.
Greek Energy Expansion
Marinakis said that drilling agreements with American corporate giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, alongside the Vertical Corridor project, have a massive footprint for Greece that extends beyond just the energy sector.
ExxonMobil and Chevron are two of the largest multinational energy corporations in the United States, with extensive global operations in oil and gas exploration.
The government spokesman noted that the commencement of drilling in the Ionian Sea after a 50 year pause and the arrival of these major American companies are elevating the country's status. The Ionian Sea, situated between western Greece and southern Italy, has been a recent focus for offshore hydrocarbon exploration.
Marinakis added that these developments are strengthening Greece's energy sector and creating new jobs, which he said highlights how significant these major moves are for the country.
Phasing out Russian Gas
Pyatt, a career diplomat who served as the US Ambassador to Athens before overseeing energy resources for the State Department, said there is an undeniable strategic and economic logic behind the Vertical Corridor.
He stated that he had strongly advocated for the project during his diplomatic tenure while supporting American companies at every step. Pyatt said the initiative is especially critical as Europe works to completely phase out Russian natural gas.
Ending European reliance on Moscow for energy has been a long sought US foreign policy goal. Pyatt noted that this transition has become even more urgent in light of the full scale invasion of Ukraine and escalating Russian hybrid attacks across Europe.
Acknowledging the Wall Street Journal report, which he said speaks for itself and would likely be followed by others, Pyatt urged that the benefits of closer US and Greek energy cooperation should not be overlooked. He highlighted progress in areas ranging from liquefied natural gas and the phasing out of lignite coal to battery storage and regional interconnections.
Geopolitical Transformation
Zemenides, whose Hellenic American Leadership Council serves as a prominent advocacy group promoting a strong US and Greece relationship, said that both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration had made major moves to upgrade bilateral ties.
He noted that these efforts successfully attracted top American companies to the region. Crucially, Zemenides stated that the consecutive US administrations achieved this without directing projects toward any specific Greek or American business.
He warned that the method of operation described in the Wall Street Journal report undermines a massive foreign policy achievement, which he described as the transformation of Greece from the problem child of Europe into a key geopolitical player across multiple regions.
Securing European Independence
Zemenides emphasized that major infrastructure initiatives in the region are pivotal in securing Europe's energy independence from malign actors.
He specifically highlighted the Great Sea Interconnector, a planned subsea high voltage direct current power cable designed to link the electricity grids of Greece, Cyprus, and Israel. He also pointed to the deployment of floating storage and regasification units in Greece, which are specialized vessels that convert liquefied natural gas back into a gaseous state for distribution.
Describing Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean as strategic points of convergence where great power competition is unfolding, Zemenides praised the Greek government for consistently prioritizing energy diplomacy. He credited the prime minister's administration for working to create more options to enhance energy security.
Zemenides concluded that Washington, Brussels, and Athens must remain vigilant to ensure that long term economic and geopolitical parameters continue to determine which projects are prioritized and who participates in them. He added that anything less would constitute a geostrategic transgression.
