The government’s decision to expedite exploration for natural gas deposits in six maritime areas was mandated by the emergency conditions deriving from the impact on the global energy market of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nevertheless, even moves that one is forced to make due to extraordinary circumstances can yield benefits.

If Greece has natural gas deposits, then it is very likely that it will be able to replace imports with its own national resources, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined during a meeting yesterday at the Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management Company.

Indeed, the elimination of dependence on Russian fossil fuels could upgrade Greece’s economic and geopolitical power.

The energy terrain in Europe and the Middle East is being restructured due to Putin’s aggression, and if the results of drilling demonstrate that it is feasible, Greece will have to reinvent its role, both in the EU and the Middle East, in the new environment that will emerge.

Athens will be called upon to avail itself of a unique opportunity, of the kind that can change the future of a country.

For this reason, the government has a duty to exhaust all of the country’s capabilities, in order for Greece not to simply serve as a hub for energy storage and transport, but also for it to become a producer of natural gas.

Such a development would make our country a noteworthy player on the international economic and diplomatic chessboard.

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