A US plan to supply LNG to Greece and the wider Balkan region, through Greek facilities, would be welcomed by the government as it is striving to establish the country into an energy hub, which would bolster Greece’s geostrategic standing and economy, Nikos Kotzias, Minister of Foreign Affairs, has pointed out.

“Anything that can benefit the country’s standing and economy is welcome,” Kotzias remarked.

He was responding to a journalist’s question for an interview published by Greek daily Kathimerini on whether the prospect of developing Greece as a gas supply center for the region would be discussed during an upcoming meeting by US counterpart John Kerry.

The US plan for LNG gas supply to the Balkan region, via Greece, was raised during a recent official visit to Athens by Amos Hochstein, the US Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs.

Both Greek and regional gas needs could be partially covered by imports of LNG from the US.