The European Union has recently approved funding of €100m to Cyprus for the construction of the EuroAsia Interconnector to link Europe’s electricity network with that of Israel and its illegal settlements in the West Bank.
If the project goes ahead, it will entrench the EU’s already deep complicity in Israel’s colonial settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
The interconnector was conceived in 2012 by the governments of Cyprus, Greece and Israel under an evolving military and economic alliance between the three countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region.
The 1,208 km submarine cable is marketed with the objective of ending the ‘energy isolation’ of Cyprus and promoted alongside a much larger project, the EastMed gas pipeline, estimated at €6bn.
Both projects aim to capitalise on the extensive gas findings in the eastern Mediterranean that have been inflaming tensions between countries in the region.
Without hesitation, the European Commission gave both projects, the EuroAsia Interconnector and the EastMed gas pipeline, Projects of Common Interest (PCI) status, meaning that they have strategic value for the Union’s energy security and therefore can benefit from accelerated permitting and funding.
While the construction of the EastMed pipeline is still in doubt, given broader regional dynamics, the EuroAsia Interconnector has courted less controversy except in 2019 when UNICEF distanced itself from the project due to its association with Israel’s illegal settlements.
To read this story, log in or subscribe
Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a subscriber for as low as €1,75 per week.
Topics
Author Bio
Ingrid Jaradat is the co-author of a legal study on the Euro-Asia interconnector for the Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council (PHROC).