Greece is moving forward with its long-delayed undersea electricity cable connecting the Greek mainland to Cyprus, and A...

Greece is moving forward with its long-delayed undersea electricity cable connecting the Greek mainland to Cyprus, and Ankara's next move is being watched closely. The project stalled in July 2024 after Turkey intervened against bathymetric surveys being conducted in waters off the island of Kasos, halting all work since then. A major development has given the project fresh momentum. The French energy group Meridiam has taken a majority stake in the project, which the Greek government says puts construction back on track. Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis confirmed this week that cable-laying will proceed as planned, now backed by what he called "a French colossus." The first real test will come when bathymetric survey work resumes. Those sea-floor mapping operations are exactly what triggered Turkey's intervention two years ago, and Greek officials are bracing for a similar response this time around. Marinakis addressed the question of what happens if Turkey moves to block the surveys again. He said Greece will give "every answer that a strong state must give, one that accepts neither instructions nor any violation of international law." He also pushed back hard against domestic critics calling the government soft on national issues, calling them "fake patriots" who "count buckets" after predicting national defeats that never materialize. The cable project sits within a broader Greek argument that the current government has done more to assert sovereignty than any administration in decades, pointing to maritime zone agreements with Italy and Egypt, new marine spatial planning frameworks, and ongoing rearmament programs. Greece is heading into an extended pre-election period, and national security issues are dominating the political agenda. Pressure is coming from smaller right-wing parties and from former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who has been openly critical of the government's foreign policy approach. Turkey, for its part, has been shifting away from its "quiet waters" posture, with Athens now operating under the assumption that Ankara is returning to a more aggressive reassertion of its claims across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean...