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Despite EU measures, US sanctions against Iran to drive oil prices higher
Oil prices are likely to rise as traders worry that US sanctions against major oil producer Iran will lead to a tighter market towards...
China
A revived role for the US in Northern Greece requires dynamic action and focus
As a former US diplomat who served as Consul General in Thessaloniki, it’s impossible not to become a lifelong booster of the Thessaloniki International...
Analysis
Greece’s Thessaloniki International Fair focuses on the American factor
The Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) has for 83 years marked the traditional high point of the Greek economic calendar and forms the venue for...
Archive
WikiLeaks revelations propel Name Dispute issue back to center stage
The Prespes Agreement - the latest attempt to end the quarter-century-long Name Dispute between Greece and its neighbour FYROM/Macedonia by renaming the latter 'the Republic of North...
Archive
EU hails California legislation to boost clean energy transition
Arnold Schwarzenegger may no longer be the governor of California, but the US' most populous state is still spearheading efforts against climate change.On the...
Archive
Trump-Erdogan spat, Iran sanctions, Maduro’s Venezuela could spike oil prices
Growing tensions between the United States and Turkey, fresh US sanctions against Iran, and falling oil production in Venezuela have increased the possibility of...
Archive
Russia’s Gazprom to supply China via Power of Siberia pipeline
In an effort to strengthen Russia’s foothold in the Asia-Pacific region, Gazprom is advancing plans to supply China with gas via the Power of...
Archive
Oil prices likely to rise as US plans to officially pull out of Iran deal
US President Donald J. Trump has said the United States will pull out of a nuclear agreement with Iran and any company dealing with...
Archive
Name Dispute: A week for summitry and skullduggery
In the context of the shrill NATO-US debate over President Donald J. Trump’s demands for higher European defence spending, the situation involving the potential...
Archive
Trump vs Nord Stream-2
At an early breakfast meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on July 11, US President Donald J. Trump launched an attack on the...
Archive
Exxon, Total get the green light for drilling off the Greek island of Crete
ATHENS - A consortium of US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, French energy major Total, and Greece’s Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE) has been awarded a...
Archive
Name Dispute: Prespes Agreement reaction destabilises Greek political scene
In Greece, the furore over the Prespes Agreement that was intended to resolve the Name Dispute between Greece and Macedonia/FYROM continues to grow, and...
Archive
Name Dispute: Furious reaction to Prespes Agreement expands
Strong public and political reactions have continued throughout Greece following the June 17 signature of the Prespes Agreement that was intended to resolve the...
Archive
Russia, Saudi push for OPEC oil supply increase while demand is strong
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers are seeking a compromise as Saudi Arabia and Russia are pushing the oil cartel...
Archive
Name Dispute: Rough sailing for ratification procedures despite quick work in Skopje
The Parliament in Skopje quickly ratified the historic June 17 Prespes Agreement resolving the Name Dispute with Greece, but the required steps to get...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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...
Archive
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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