Foreign Minister Avramopoulos’ speech at the signing ceremony for the intergovernmental agreement in support of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)

Mr. Prime Minister,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you here today, to the Foreign Ministry, for the signing of the intergovernmental agreement in support of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

It is an honor for us to have here with us the Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister of Albania, Edmond Haxhinasto, and Italian Development Minister Corrado Passera, who came to Athens to sign the agreement.

In this way, Athens, Tirana and Rome are expressing the strong political will of our government’s to carry through with the construction of this pipeline.

Greece’s dedication to the implementation of this major project is expressed by the presence here today of Greek Prime Minster Antonis Samaras, who, from the outset, put the whole endeavor under his instructions.

Mr. Prime Minister,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Energy security is one of the greatest challenges we are facing today. Global developments bearing on the supply of, demand for and transport of energy impact our interests and help to shape our foreign and energy policy.

The new global energy landscape is changing rapidly: The sharp rise in demand for energy; access to new sources of energy; natural gas’s increased share in the new energy mix.

All of these factors figure into the new energy equation we are being called upon to solve. Our country cannot just look on at these developments. We are participating actively in them.

Through the singing of inter-state agreements, such as today’s TAP agreement, Greece is helping to shape energy developments in Southeast Europe, where ensuring natural gas supplies will promote economic growth, as well as the political stability needed by our countries and the wider region.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The TAP is obviously of strategic importance. It aspires to be a bridge linking the West to the East, Europe with Eurasia, Greece with Eurasia. A bridge linking the largest energy market in the world – Europe – with one of the regions richest in energy reserves: the Caspian basin. A bridge that will distance countries in the region from bad memories and the ghosts of the past, taking them towards the future.

And Greece is gaining a geostrategic position on the energy map; a position commensurate with its history, its stabilizing role in the wider region, and its contribution to global culture and global affairs.

In signing today’s agreement, we are making our region attractive and creating – for our countries, for Greece – a hospitable environment for international investors. The implementation of this project will mean direct foreign investments of €1.5 billion for our country, and 2,000 direct and 10,000 indirect new jobs in the Greek market.

Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The political will of Greece, Italy and Albania to construct the TAP is a loud call to all potential international investors, as well as a message of optimism and hope for tomorrow. I think it my duty to make special mention of my Italian counterpart Giulio Terzi, with whom I met in Rome, in August 2012, to lay the foundations for today’s agreement. Our collaboration and everything we agreed on at that meeting resulting in the signing by the Foreign Ministers of Italy, Greece and Albania of a memorandum of understanding on the TAP, a month later, in September 2012, on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York City.

Today, Greece has the honor of hosting, in the Foreign Ministry’s historic building, in Athens, the signing ceremony for the Intergovernmental Agreement between the three countries on the construction of the pipeline.

An agreement that is a milestone in the development of this ambitious project. An agreement that establishes the credibility of the endeavor for the Shah Deniz II consortium, which is managing the Shah Deniz II deposits in Azerbaijan and will this summer be choosing the pipeline for transporting natural gas to Europe.

It is an agreement that adds to the TAP’s comparative advantages over competing proposals. And it is an agreement that sends a clear message in all directions: that Greece is present on the international landscape, on the European and global stage, with the collaboration of its European and regional partners and the confidence of international investors.

This agreement sends a message of optimism. A message so loud that it can be heard today in Azerbaijan, which, through the TAP, is now closer to us.

Thank you very much.