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The Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and the EU reopened this week, with deliveries slowly getting back to levels seen before the pipeline closed for maintenance earlier this month. This has allowed Europe to catch its breath, but the fear that Russia could use gas to blackmail Europe remains, and EU countries, including Greece, are preparing emergency measures should Russia decide to...

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On Wednesday Turkey announced that its fourth drill ship, the Abdülhamid Han, will launch operations in the Eastern Mediterranean in August, raising the prospect of heightened tensions with Greece and Cyprus. In the meantime, Greece’s Defense Minister traveled to the United States this week, where he raised the issue of Turkey’s revisionism in the Aegean, and took important steps to bring...

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While Cyprus has become a key US partner in the Eastern Mediterranean, there is still a partial arms embargo on Cyprus as US law currently prohibits providing Cyprus with US-made weaponry. The US only partially lifted the embargo a few years ago because of concerns over Cyprus’s links to Russia, which US lawmakers called on Cyprus to address. Cyprus has now fulfilled these requirements. Lifting...

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This weekend North Macedonia’s parliament gave the government the green light to resolve a dispute with Bulgaria that paves the way for EU membership talks to begin. The deal would also unblock the start of negotiations for Albania, another EU hopeful. While this may lift Bulgaria’s veto over North Macedonia’s membership bid, there are still a number of hurdles before North Macedonia can join...

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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is set to travel to Tehran on Tuesday, where he will meet with the leaders of Iran and Turkey to discuss Syria. Much is at stake in Putin’s meeting with Turkey’s Erdogan, with the two leaders set to discuss a range of issues, including Turkish threats to launch a new military incursion in Syria. Putin is also looking to strengthen Russia’s relationship with...

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Today we’re taking you to the US House of Representatives, where the House Rules Committee voted on Tuesday to include an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit the sale of F-16s or modernization kits to Turkey unless certain conditions are met. The amendment was debated in the House on Wednesday night, with a vote expected on Thursday. This marks an important...

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EU leaders are bracing for a gas supply crunch that could freeze whole sectors of the bloc's economy as fears grow that Russia could pull the plug on supply and shut down the Nord Stream pipeline for good. If Russia does decide to pull the plug on supply, Europe, including Greece, will need to prepare for a challenging winter. This could also prove a test for the West’s resolve against Russia,...

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Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the ultra-nationalist MHP in Turkey and Erdogan’s junior coalition partner, recently presented a map of the Aegean that showed many Greek islands as Turkish, including Crete. The image prompted reactions from Greece’s foreign ministry and from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who tweeted the image and called on Turkish President Erdogan to clarify whether this...

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Most journalists, analysts, and even politicians themselves seem to have concluded that Greece will head to early elections this fall. This week, Prime Minister Mitsotakis moved to dismiss these rumors, saying that he is prepared to assume the cost of resisting pressure for snap polls for the sake of stability, and added that he plans to see his government through its four-year term. In the...

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Since the late 1960s there has been agreement among successive US administrations that Israel should have a qualitative military edge for the sake of regional peace and security. Now, as the Biden administration throws its support behind the sale of F-16 fighter jets to an increasingly revisionist and aggressive Turkey, is it time to apply this example to the Eastern Mediterranean? Expert...

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As concerns grow across Europe over the possibility of a complete disruption of Russian gas flows, Greece is transforming itself into a gateway for alternative sources of energy to flow into Europe. Its northern region of Thrace, with cities like Alexandroupoli, is at the heart of this effort, particularly when it comes to enabling Balkan energy independence from Russian gas through key...

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The US-Turkey relationship has been characterized by a steady attempt at “hostage diplomacy” on the part of Ankara, and its veto over Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership bids is the latest example. One devastating effect of this consistent use of “hostage diplomacy”, as HALC’s Executive Director Endy Zemenides argues in his latest piece in Kathimerini, is that the US government has developed...

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Greece has quietly been building an anti-drone system that will significantly enhance its ability to defend its islands in the Aegean. The system being deployed, which uses Israeli technology and has similar characteristics to Israel’s Drone Dome, essentially operates in a way that interferes with the flight capability of potential enemy UAVs. Aside from this anti-drone system, Greece is also...

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Earlier this week there were many who anticipated that Turkey would stand by its veto over Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership bids. Instead, on Tuesday night we saw the three countries reach an agreement that NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said addressed Turkey’s concerns, essentially paving the way for the Nordic countries to join NATO. After the deal was reached, we saw President Biden meet...

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This year holiday bookings to Greece are skyrocketing, and many are hoping Greece could reach or even exceed the numbers from 2019, a record breaking summer. While visitors are returning to Greece en masse this summer, the country is struggling to find enough people to work in its vital tourism industry to cope with this increase in demand. Prime Minister Mitsotakis even described these...

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Last week Bulgaria’s government collapsed after a no-confidence vote in parliament. The move comes at a delicate time - especially considering Bulgaria’s position vis-a-vis Ukraine and Russia, and its role in holding up the EU integration of North Macedonia and Albania. Following the vote of no-confidence, Bulgaria’s parliament voted to lift its veto on North Macedonia’s EU membership bid,...

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As this week’s NATO summit kicks off, instead of welcoming Sweden and Finland into the alliance, leaders will have to address the question of Turkey, which is derailing NATO’s enlargement and threatening NATO ally Greece. While Greece is prepared to respond decisively if Turkish President Erdogan raises questions about the sovereignty of Greek islands in the Aegean at the summit, the question...

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This week the EU’s 27 leaders took a historic step during a two day summit in Brussels to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine. While the move marks a significant step for EU enlargement efforts, Western Balkan leaders, who traveled to Brussels for high level meetings with their EU counterparts, were left frustrated at the lack of movement on their bids to join the bloc. Ukraine and the Western...

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Last week the EU finalized a natural gas agreement with Israel and Egypt, building on what’s been a busy month when it comes to energy in the Eastern Mediterranean. These agreements further showcase how the region can be a game-changer in reducing the dependence of America’s European allies on Russian energy. At the same time, however, we’re seeing state and non-state actors in the region -...

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In response to Turkey’s clear aggression in the Aegean, the State Department has resorted to a policy of neutrality and equidistance. Instead of calling out Turkey’s revisionism and condemning its threats against Greece in a clear and unequivocal way, it has resorted to on the one hand supporting the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity, and on the other calling on “both sides” to...

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