RIYADH/ATHENS, July 26 (Reuters) – Greece and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday struck a deal to lay an undersea data cable that will connect Europe to Asia and discussed the possibility of connecting their energy grids to supply Europe with more cheap green energy.
Greece and Saudi Arabia agreed in May on the basic terms of a planned joint venture to build a data cable, the so-called “East to Mediterranean Data Corridor”, to be developed by MENA HUB, owned by Saudi Arabia’s STC and Greek Telecoms and Satellite Applications Company TTSA. Read more
The agreement was finalized during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Athens, his first visit to an EU member state since the 2018 assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Prince Mohammed’s last official visit outside the Middle East was to Japan in 2019 for a G20 summit.
“By connecting the electricity grid … we can provide Greece and southwestern Europe through Greece with much cheaper renewable energy,” said Prince Mohammed, seated next to Mitsotakis.
Bilateral agreements were also signed in the fields of energy and military cooperation, among others. Read more
Mitsotakis welcomed Prince Mohammed’s visit as an opportunity to further discuss regional developments and “how to further cement this important relationship between our two countries, placing particular emphasis on economic cooperation.”
Mitsotakis was among Western leaders who visited Riyadh after Khashoggi’s assassination at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul sparked outrage in the West and tarnished the prince’s image as a reformist pushing to open up Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter.
French President Emmanuel Macron also visited Riyadh last year, and US President Joe Biden met Prince Mohammed during a trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this month as Washington works to ease tensions with Riyadh.
US intelligence has implicated the prince in Khashoggi’s murder, a charge the prince and Saudi officials deny.
After Greece, Prince Mohammed will head to France.
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Reporting by Nayera Abdullah in Cairo and Angeliki Koutantou in Athens; Writing by Nadine Avadala and Gaida Gantus; Editing by Catherine Evans, Tomasz Janowski and Richard Pullin
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