Serbia discussed as Italy alternative for East Med project

An alternative route, replacing Italy with Serbia, for the ambitious 5 billion-euro East Med natural gas pipeline, planned to carry southeast Mediterranean natural gas deposits to the EU via Greece, was discussed at a five-way meeting in Thessaloniki last Friday between leading energy-sector officials representing Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Serbia and the US.

The meeting’s participants expressed concern over the new Italian coalition’s unfavorable view of such projects. In June, the Italian coalition described as “pointless” the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, the final stage of a bigger project – the Southern Gas Corridor – that will take Azeri gas to western Europe. Intended to diversify Europe’s natural gas sources and lessen the reliance on Russia, the TAP project represents the cornerstone of the EU’s energy security policy.

An extremely complex 1,900-km project whose greatest part would run underwater, East Med is planned to conclude in Italy. It is being supported by the EU as a PCI- status project.

Serbia’s mining and energy minister Aleksandar Antic, one of the five participants at the Thessaloniki meeting, held within the framework of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, is believed to have embraced the plan for an alternative East Med route that would include his country – should Italy not clarify its position.