03.05.2022
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov expects that Kremlin’s economic blackmail will fail given the response of free and democratic Europe, which demonstrated its unity. He stated his conviction that “only together we can counter the Russian invasion in Ukraine and the unprecedented pressure that Russia is currently exerting on us by the shutoff of the gas supplies.” At an official ceremony today in Alexandroupolis Kiril Petkov attended the launch of works on the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, together with the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski, the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and the President of the European Council Charles Michel. It is not only an energy project but also a geopolitical project that will change the energy map of the whole region, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said firmly.
Prime Minister Kiril Petkov is convinced that this day will go down in the political history of Bulgaria-Greece relations. He thanked specially his Greek counterpart for the support that the neighbor country is giving to Bulgaria at this critical time by using the capacity of the existing terminal in Revithoussa. Further, the Bulgarian Prime Minister recognized the speeded works on the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which will be completed in mid-2022. Kiril Petkov expressed his confidence that the greater connectivity in the Balkans would be in the interest of the economic development of the whole of Europe.
United we can face the difficulties created by Russia, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said. In his words, the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (INGS) is the first step in this direction. The Greek Prime Minister was firm that very soon it will be possible to substitute the Russian natural gas to Europe with supplies from other sources. Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić and the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski likewise welcomed the launch of the project that is of key importance for the region and for Europe. The President of the European Council Charles Michel reiterated the geopolitical significance of the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal and underlined the importance of having a European energy platform.
