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With the signing over, the long battle for ratifying the Name Dispute agreement begins
Greece’s ruling coalition survived a no-confidence motion on June 16, which was followed the next day with the signature of a bilateral agreement formally...
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Cyprus’ Minister highlights East Med role in EU energy security
LAGONISSI, Greece – Cyprus plans to forge ahead with the country’s energy plans to explore for hydrocarbons in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and...
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Closing a new chapter in the Name Dispute
After nearly 27 years of haggling, the race to the finish line for a formal end to the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute kicked into full...
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The wait is over. Name Dispute agreement comes together
After a delayed set of phone calls June 11 and 12, and a late June 12 intervention by UN Mediator Matthew Nimetz, the prime...
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Name Dispute talks hanging in the balance
Ever since the May 28 Brussels announcement that the foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia/FYROM had finished their work and had delivered their proposals...
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Putin in Austria as OMV and Gazprom extend deal, push Nord Stream-2
Amid the buzz of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Austrian capital of Vienna, OMV and Russia’s Gazprom signed an agreement to extend...
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Name Dispute talks progress as foreign ministers produce a draft agreement
After meeting in Brussels on May 28, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Macedonia/FYROM Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov announced they had completed work on...
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Name Dispute negotiations: Doing a new tango ahead of the summer summits
Negotiations over the Greece/Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute resumed in New York on May 24-25 following consultations in Washington by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias earlier...
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EU urges Russia, Ukraine to resume trilateral gas talks
European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said on May 23 that the time has come for another round of trilateral talks with Russia and...
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Name Dispute negotiations: Zaev’s “Ilinden Gambit” melts down in Athens and Skopje
Within 24 hours of the end of bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia late last week, a new...
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Name Dispute negotiations: Late nights, roadmaps, and summer summits
The outcome of the bilateral meeting in Sofia May 17 between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Macedonia/FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev disappointed the...
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From Russia: Reactor will drive Finnish nuclear power plant
SOCHI, Russia –Finnish nuclear power company Fennovoima is expected to begin constructing the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant in the northern part of Finland...
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Name Dispute negotiations: Getting closer, but is this just a matter of sequencing or is it deeper?
While the negotiations over the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute returned to a faster track after the visit of UN Mediator Matthew Nimetz to Athens May...
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Strange bedfellows: Iran sanctions, EU posturing and volatile oil markets
Oil prices remained near three and a half year highs on May 11 as the United States plans to reintroduce sanctions against Iran after...
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Name Dispute talks focus on opportunities at upcoming EU-Western Balkans Summit
With the window for a potential agreement before the upcoming EU and NATO Summits in June and July nearly closed, efforts to reach agreement...
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Trump pulling out of Iran nuclear deal risks fuel oil prices
As the US Administration of President Donald J. Trump mulls new sanctions against Iran, world oil prices remained high on May 4.“Iran is exactly...
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Name Dispute negotiations slowly drop off the “fast track”
With the Name Dispute negotiations off the front burner in Athens, both countries involved in the negotiations (Greece and FYROM/Macedonia) focused on other important...
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Basque Country’s industry pushes wind energy production in Spain
BILBAO, Spain – Spain is close to the EU goal of having the country’s energy produced by renewables and without CO2 emissions by 2020.“If...
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Little progress on Name Dispute after “remedial diplomacy” session called by Matthew Nimetz
Filling a rare week when no bilateral meetings on the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute were scheduled, UN Mediator Matthew Nimetz organised a special meeting in...
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Athens considers plans for July 2018 Macedonia/FYROM NATO accession unworkable
Announcing his assessment that more time is needed to complete Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute negotiations, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias told an Athens radio station...
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Macron calls for climate and energy sovereignty
STRASBOURG – French President Emmanuel Macron said it is “essential” for the Europe Union to increase the bloc’s "climate and energy sovereignty."“We must quickly...
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Limited progress reported on Name Dispute at Ohrid meeting
With only three months to go before a critical NATO summit in Bucharest that could potentially approve the admission of new members, the foreign...
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Nord Stream 2 gas project strives to fill EU’s import gap
DUSSELDORF – Ukraine can still be a transit gas country to Europe even after the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany is...
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Israel, Cyprus, Greece to push EastMed gas pipeline to Europe at May summit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on April 4 with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and “among the issues...
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Not quite a week off on the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias spent much of the Greek Orthodox “Holy Week” briefing Greek political parties on the state of the Greece-Macedonia Name...
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Saudi Arabia, Russia may extend OPEC, non-OPEC oil output deal
Plans of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other supplies, especially Russia, to possibly continue curbing oil production for the rest...
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Negotiations on Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute advance in Vienna
Despite intense ongoing diplomatic sparring with Turkey on Greece’s Aegean front, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias was able to keep his March 29-30 Vienna...
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Threatening to seize Gazprom’s assets, Ukraine raises the stakes for EU gas
As the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine deepens, Kiev is reportedly planning to seize the Ukrainian assets of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in...
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Rebooting the Name Dispute negotiations with a symbolic Skopje visit
The visit of Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias to Skopje March 22-23 was a clear attempt to reboot the dragging 2018 cycle of the...
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Oil markets nervous after Tillerson sacked, McMaster on his way out
The firing of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and if President Donald Trump removes H.R. McMaster as national security adviser could impact major...
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US deepens engagement on Europe’s southern flank
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell continued his weeklong trip through Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean visiting Belgrade...
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Stiffening Europe’s southern flank: Washington moves to reassert itself in the Western Balkans
After a period of relative diplomatic quiescence, a senior policy-level official from the Trump Administration began a weeklong trip through Southeast Europe and the...
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Trump’s White House proclaims new (and maybe negotiable) tariffs to take effect in 15 days
US President Donald J. Trump signed a tariff proclamation March 8 at the White House, including a series of carefully-crafted exemptions for NAFTA partners...
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Prompted by Egypt’s Zohr find, Total-Exxon will hunt hydrocarbons off Crete
ATHENS - A French-led consortium from Total and US energy giant ExxonMobil, each with 40% stakes, as well as Hellenic Petroleum, have submitted a...
Cyprus
US political fireworks reach Delphi Economic Forum
The official American presence at the March 1-4 Delphi Economic Forum came close to being overshadowed by the academics, business people, and American political...
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Turkish pressure throws EU East Med energy projects into limbo
DELPHI, Greece – The Turkish diplomatic and military pressure in the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) may affect...
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Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute: Next Week in Skopje?
Skopje’s “mini-diplomatic offensive” to resolve the Name Dispute with Greece has morphed into a “mini-public diplomacy offensive” over the last week while Athens has...
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Cyprus brings up Turkey’s ‘gunboat diplomacy’ to EU
As Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras were expected to bring up the issue of Turkey’s intervention in the island’s...
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Foreign actors increasingly making their opinions known about the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Talks
This week we heard several expressions of concern from important regional powers about the developments in the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute. The strategy used by...
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Gas drilling, Navtex fuel Turkey-Cyprus tensions in East Med
ATHENS – The tensions between Greece and Turkey after an incident in the eastern Aegean appear to have been defused, but the standoff between...
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Turmoil in and around Greece may be switching the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Talks into low gear
The barrage of Greek domestic politics and this week’s almost-clashes with Turkey in the Aegean have combined to get the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute talks...
Albania
Former PM Letta: Italy to play increasing role as key EU energy hub
ATHENS – Italy can become an energy hub in the Mediterranean boosting European security of supply, Enrico Letta, former prime minister of Italy, told...
Archive
Amidst backtracking, a difficult week in the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Talks
While a few positive steps can be listed, real progress over the last week on the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute is hard to document. To...
Archive
Numbers game deepens over size of Athens rally on Greece-FYROM/Macedonia Name Dispute
The Greek people sent a strong message in Athens on February 4 that many will not countenance the use of a compound name including...
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Germany approves Nord Stream-2 as issue over Ukrainian transit lingers
Gazprom’s Nord Stream-2 received the first construction permit from Germany last week as Berlin sees a direct pipeline from Russia as a step towards...
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Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Talks: Searching for new momentum after Nimetz Balkan visit
The UN Mediator for the Greece–FYROM/Macedonia Name Dispute, Matthew Nimetz, visited both Athens and Skopje over the January 29-February 1 period. Important issues were discussed...
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Tsipras-Zaev Davos meeting aims to revive faltering Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Talks
Hoping to resuscitate the stalling diplomatic initiative to resolve the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Dispute negotiations this year, the prime ministers of Greece and Macedonia/FYROM met...
Archive
Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name Talks appear to lose the strong momentum seen at the start of 2018
While 2018 opened on a positive note with both Athens and Skopje making hopeful statements and gestures around the New Year pointing to the...
Archive
At Rome ‘Club Med’ summit, Greece gets a line on TAP gas to Italy
As heads of state and government of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain, or so-called “Club Med,’ convened in Rome on January...
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Potential European market rivals, Russia’s Gazprom, Iran’s NIOC sign gas cooperation deals
Gazprom said that the Russian gas giant has signed a deal with Iran to implement integrated projects for hydrocarbon production, transmission and processing in...
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