North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia agree to deepen regional energy cooperation
We agreed that we must cooperate, because this is about energy and about ensuring the stability of supply for our citizens. That is why this cooperation must continue and be further strengthened, Minister of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources of North Macedonia Sanja Bozhinovska told MIA’s correspondent in Athens after the first quadrilateral ministerial meeting, which brought together North Macedonia, host country Greece as well as Bulgaria and Serbia.
At the first ministerial meeting held in Athens, ministers from the four countries exchanged views on the challenges facing European and regional energy security, the strengthening of interconnections and regional energy cooperation, as well as the need to speed up strategic energy infrastructure projects, CE Report quotes MIA.
Minister Bozhinovska underlined that all sides agreed the meeting was an excellent opportunity for the four countries, given that two are members of the European Union, while the other two, our country and Serbia, are candidate countries for EU membership.
“We agreed that we must cooperate, because this is about energy and about ensuring the stability of supply for our citizens. That is why this cooperation must continue and be further strengthened. We agreed that this cooperation will be further strengthened. We are already cooperating and will continue to do so, while also becoming more interconnected. The discussion also covered the construction of new interconnections, specifically between Macedonia and Greece, and potentially between Macedonia and Bulgaria, which is particularly important given the growing volume of renewable energy,” Bozhinovska noted.
She added that they also discussed the difficulties and challenges as well we cooperation, noting that the existing joint projects were acknowledged and possibilities for their expansion were reviewed.
“We agreed that this will become a regular format of meetings, with the next one scheduled for September or October in Belgrade, followed by meetings in Skopje and Sofia. Much of the discussion focused on the gas interconnector, which is due to be completed next year, while yesterday we announced the tender for the connection with Serbia. This means that next year there will be another energy link connecting Greece, Macedonia and Serbia,” Bozhinovska told MIA.
She underscored that today’s meeting was a good start and would help accelerate activities, given the considerable investments and EU funding available.
Regarding the possibility of other regional countries joining the current quadrilateral format, she said Romania could potentially become part of it though the Vertical Corridor, but that this would depend on the political situation in the country.
Minister Bozhinovska has been visiting Athens since Thursday, where she took part in the ministerial panel “Delivering 2030: Leadership Commitments for the East Med transition” at the international conference “Εnergy Transition Summit: East Med & Southeast Europe,” organised by the Financial Times and Kathimerini. She joined energy ministers from Serbia, Albania, Georgia, Moldova, our country and host nation Greece, where she stressed that “we need greater interconnectivity and stronger regional cooperation.”
Together with her counterparts from Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece, at the first energy ministerial meeting, they agreed to continue and strengthen regional energy cooperation.
Photo: AI
