ATHENS, June 8. /TASS/. The cooperation between Russia and Greece is believed to be very successful, and Athens believe that there is the significant capacity to beef it up even further, President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou said in an interview with TASS.
"Russia is Greece’s very important partner in energy," the head of state said. "Our bilateral cooperation on energy is considered to be very successful, and we are certain that there are significant capacities for its further strengthening, especially within the framework of our nation’s energy transformation. We are especially interested in the energy efficiency, energy-saving, and renewable energy sectors."
She underscored that "an emphasis should also be made on the natural gas sector."
According to Sakellaropoulou, mankind is currently at a critical turning point because it has to tie its fight against climate change to its energy supply.
"The challenges that the EU is currently facing also concern Russia due to the universal nature of the climate crisis. Of course, measures must be taken to prevent climate change, to increase [the use] of renewables, and to protect the climate in general," she said.
The president noted that Greece as a EU member state is fully tied by obligations and measures taken and implemented by the EU in this field.
"And, of course, the European Green Deal is in the focus of the EU’s energy policy and its ecology policy in general. Finally, I would like to mention the hydrogen sector, which may, as scientists say, facilitate de-carbonization the most. There is a large field for implementation in our cooperation in the future," Sakellaropoulou believes.
She noted that some changes in climate have already turned into a climate crisis, including prolonged drought periods, shoreline erosion, and desertification.
"We can see a wide-scale worsening of the ecology, which, of course, we must protect in order to hand it down to future generations. And the development must happen in a way that protects the environment and does not inflict irreversible damage to it," the president underscored, adding that every EU member state took responsibility to adopt a climate law.
"Some countries have already done it. Greece is currently preparing a law on climate as we speak. One measure is combating single-use plastics that cause really serious damage to the environment. There are other materials that can replace plastic and therefore do not harm the environment. So, I believe that we need an entire series of political actions at the lawmaking level, as well, but mainly, all of us citizens must have a more ecology-oriented conscience in our everyday lives so that we could protect the environment for the future. Otherwise, it might be too late to protect what must be protected today," Sakellaropoulou underscored.