{"id":4780,"date":"2026-05-09T15:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=4780"},"modified":"2026-05-09T15:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:31:00","slug":"stavros-papastavrou-at-the-southwestern-democratic-party-pre-conference-homeland-above-all-references-to-hydrocarbons-and-energy-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=4780","title":{"rendered":"Stavros Papastavrou at the Southwestern Democratic Party pre-conference: homeland above all – References to hydrocarbons and energy security"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the podium of the New Democracy<\/strong> pre-conference in Thessaloniki, Stavros Papastayroy<\/strong> linked the current government policy with the long-standing course of the party, giving special emphasis to Macedonia<\/strong>, energy<\/strong> and the need for a “strong Greece with national self-confidence”. <\/p>\n

The minister began his speech with a reference to the special symbolism of Thessaloniki for New Democracy. He said that Macedonia “was, is and will be the heart of our party”, recalling that the party’s first congresses were held in the region and linking the New Democracy with the political legacy of Konstantinos Karamanlis<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

He also set a personal tone in his remarks, saying that he had been at the 3rd ND Congress as a member of the Central Committee of ONNED and that the same values continue to inspire the party to this day. <\/p>\n

In the political part of his intervention, the minister stood on the firm ideological line of the Southwest, saying in effect that: “Homeland above party, above ego, above personal strategies. And the progress of the many over the interests of the few.” <\/p>\n

As he said, Patriotism<\/strong>, freedom<\/strong> and collective progress have remained the main pillars of the party for decades. <\/p>\n

He placed particular emphasis on energy<\/strong>, which he described as an issue affecting every area of life. He referred to households, industry, farmers, transport and shipping, insisting that energy security<\/strong> is directly linked to national security<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

In the same context, he attempted to show continuity in the energy choices of all New Democracy governments. He referred to Constantine Karamanlis and the decision to develop hydrocarbons<\/strong> after the 1973 oil crisis, recalling the phrase: “In order to know what the future of this country is, we must know what its wealth is.” <\/p>\n

At the same time, he spoke about the national gas network under the government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, about the spatial framework of RES<\/strong> under the government of Kostas Karamanlis and about the initiatives of the Samaras government around the marine plots and the TAP pipeline. <\/p>\n

Papastavrou also referred extensively to current government policy, with an emphasis on developments around gas exploration. He underlined that for the first time in almost 50 years, offshore exploratory drilling is proceeding in the Ionian Sea. <\/p>\n

He said ExxonMobil<\/strong> estimates the field at 270 billion cubic meters, when the country’s annual needs amount to about 6 billion cubic meters. It added that the potential public revenue is estimated at EUR 10 billion. <\/p>\n

He also referred to exploration south of Crete by Chevron<\/strong> and Helleniq Energy<\/strong>, noting that these moves confirm in practice Greek sovereign rights. <\/p>\n

At that point he set the political tone of his speech, saying in part: “This is the modern patriotism of responsibility”. <\/p>\n

He even admitted that a year ago there were objections in Europe to the return to hydrocarbons, but noted that now several countries are following the same strategy. <\/p>\n

In response to the dilemma of whether the country should invest in hydrocarbons or in renewable energy<\/strong>, he said. And with all the energy sources we can have.” <\/p>\n

A separate part of the speech was devoted to Renewable Energy Sources<\/strong>, with the minister arguing that Greece has made significant progress in recent years. According to him, the country now ranks among the top internationally in the penetration of solar and wind energy. <\/p>\n

He said that more than 50% of electricity generation now comes from renewable energy sources<\/strong>, while installed capacity has increased from 6.2 GWh in 2019 to about 18 GWh today. <\/p>\n

He also cited data from Eurostat<\/strong>, which showed that electricity prices for Greek households in the second half of 2025 were 18% lower than the European average. <\/p>\n

The minister also referred to the country’s major energy infrastructure, making special mention of the Athens-Crete interconnection, as well as the plans for the Dodecanese and Northern Cyclades. <\/p>\n

At the same time, he stressed the importance of the Revithoussa<\/strong>, the TAP<\/strong>, the IGB<\/strong> and the FSRU Alexandroupolis<\/strong>, saying that Greece is becoming an energy hub for Southeast Europe. <\/p>\n

He did not fail to mention Cyprus<\/strong>, noting that the government is seeking to end the energy blockade of the Megalonissos. <\/p>\n

In the same context, he also included the so-called Cross Corridor<\/strong>, which he described as a network of development and geo-economic upgrading for Macedonia and the region as a whole. <\/p>\n

Stavros Papastavrou also argued that energy development does not come at the expense of the environment. He referred to the Marine Spatial Planning<\/strong>, saying that it reflects for the first time the Greek continental shelf in a European regulatory document with full influence of the islands. <\/p>\n

At the same time, he spoke about the National Marine Parks<\/strong>, noting that Greece has taken initiatives to protect the seas. <\/p>\n

Concluding his speech, the minister sent a clear political message, saying that the country “is not afraid to exercise its rights” and “is not hiding behind decades-old pending issues”. <\/p>\n

He concluded by repeating the phrase that encapsulated the content of his speech: “This is New Democracy: patriotism with responsibility, development with rules, strong Greece with national self-confidence.” <\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n Speaking at the pre-synod of the New Democracy party in Thessaloniki, Stavros Papastavrou linked the current government policy with the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}