JOURNALIST: I welcome Mr. George Gerapetritis. I really want to thank you for joining us here. Really exciting stuff going on here. This venue is just really incredible. So thank you to the Doha forum folks and the Qataris for hosting this incredible event. What I really want to start with here is that earlier this year, I was in Greece and I talked to Prime Minister Mitsotakis. This was in the immediate aftermath of President Trump doing Liberation Day and the tariffs. The Prime Minister told me that he believed that the European Union and the United States would reach a mutually beneficial win-win trade deal. At the time, a lot of world leaders out there were very critical of President Trump, and the tariff situation was very much up in the air. But the Prime Minister was right. The European Union and the United States have reached a mutually beneficial win-win trade deal. Both sides are excited about it. Your thoughts, looking back on those historic moments about the US relations and Greece's role in predicting this.

G. GERAPETRITIS: Thank you Matt. It's wonderful to be here in Doha in this wonderful event. I have to tell you that the Prime Minister is very good at foresighting. He's really looking into things with a very elaborate sight. At a very early stage he recognized the driving force that the new American leadership would bring to Europe as well as to the world. The truth is that under the presidency of Donald Trump, there has been a different model of governance that does have some ecumenical repercussions. I think in some ways it assisted us in order to revisit our fundamentals in Europe, to think how we could be more autonomous, how we could strive into a more thorough policy of economy, how to develop a fair balancing towards the United States. At the end of the day, this is the mutually beneficial, as you say. To be honest, in the last 10 months in Europe, we have changed the way we're thinking about things and the interaction with NATO is also very important. To start with, I would say that now there is a different conception about the defense capabilities of Europe. We have developed two major programs, which are ReArm Europe and SAFE, in order to enhance our defense capabilities and to be able to develop those capabilities in a form that would deter any potential aggression.

And the truth is that now, when it comes to trade, because trade and defense, I think, go hand in hand, we have found a very functional formula that is mutually beneficial, and I think we can work out things. My Prime Minister is very focused on how to further develop both EU-US relationship, but also the US-Greece relationship, which is now at its highest level. I think we're living some really historic times, and we have to comment on the efforts of the new American Administration to actually lead the world towards a more peaceful and prosperous future.

JOURNALIST: One of the things that President Trump really seems to be focused on is using trade as a way to advance not just the American interest, but the interest of Western civilization, frankly. I know the Greeks very much care, and I talked to the Prime Minister about this earlier this year, about this idea of IMEEC, the India, Middle East, Europe, Economic Corridor. I talked to President Trump about this in the White House back in March, and he's very supportive of the concept and the idea of giving the United States leverage against the Chinese. We've seen a first meeting now with President Trump and President Xi in Asia when they met there, and they have a forthcoming trip where President Trump is going to visit Beijing next year. What are some of the things that you're looking for on the IMEEC front, especially we're here in the Middle East, what are some of the things that need to still happen to see this idea come to fruition?

G. GERAPETRITIS: To be honest, I think the keyword here is diversification. What the war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine proved was that any type of overreliance is detrimental. We need to develop alternative routes in order to safeguard the proper functioning of commerce and trade, but also the mobility of goods and people. For us, IMEEC is a project of very high importance. It's not only an economic corridor, I think it's also a cultural corridor, it's a human mobility corridor. I think it provides a signal that we need to turn our eye to the east. Obviously, here at the Gulf, we have to say that the Gulf countries, and especially Qatar, have increased their footprint in the world. It's important that those countries are developing not only in terms of the economy, but also in terms of geopolitical footprint. I think at the moment, we need to develop alternative corridors. We do realize that nowadays it is important to have strong alliances. Greece has been a steadfast ally, not only towards the United States, but also to all Arabic countries here and to the Gulf States and to India. In the last couple of years, my Prime Minister and myself, we have paid three or four visits to India.

We have an excellent relationship: we have developed our bilateral trade, we are opening up consular offices in India, we have established a direct airline with New Delhi, and we're looking forward to taking part in this super major project, IMEEC. For us, India is a key partner, but also at the same time, we need to build bridges. I think what is important at the moment is to try and establish regional and global bridges. The problem being that with so many conflicts around the world and with so many divergences and with all those ecumenical challenges like food insecurity or climate crisis, I think what we need to do is to develop synergies. In order to do this, we need strong leadership, but above all, we need strong alliances.

JOURNALIST: We've seen trade deals come together now. As we mentioned there, the US and the EU, the US is also doing with Japan, Vietnam. I think like 85% of world GDP. One of the ones that's elusive has been an India deal. That still hasn't come together, though there's a lot of sources in mind and folks that say that looks promising on the horizon here. President Trump has now got his US ambassador to India in place. Sergio Gore. I've known Sergio for a long time since he was a US Senate staff, way back in the day. Do you think that that is going to help further things along if and when a deal like that comes together?

G. GERAPETRITIS: But India is the largest democracy of the world. It is 1.5 billion people. It's a huge market. It's a hugely developing state in terms of economy and trade. I think we need to settle agreements with India. We have already concluded, as Greece, a series of trade agreements, but also we have in progress an agreement concerning the mobility of people in order to get laborers from India coming to Greece because we do have a deficit when it comes to labor forces. When it comes to the United States, I think it's absolutely imperative that there is a very steady relationship with India. To this effect, I think the appointment is very critical. I'm very looking forward to working together with the new appointees. I'm very positive that once there is an agreement between the United States and India, there is going to be definitely a positive spillover in most countries, especially those of the IMEEC corridor.

JOURNALIST: Obviously, here in the Middle East, there's a lot of focus right now on the new, freshly signed, agreed upon deal in Gaza. Another one of President Trump's focuses. It seems to be very focused on all these deals, trade deals, peace deals, etc. I've lost count of how many peace deals we've got. I don't know where we are at, 10 or something. I was just talking to the Vice President about this a couple of weeks ago in DC at an event that we hosted in Washington. But talk to us about the deal in Gaza and what your thoughts are from Greece on that, and more broadly about peace efforts throughout the Middle East. Then I'd like to come as well to the issue of Christians, because, in particular, we will see here at the Doha Forum, the new President of Syria, Al-Sharaa, is here. I know that he's going to be addressing the forum and your thoughts as well on Christians, Greece being a Christian country, very close to the region.

G. GERAPETRITIS: I think your question reveals that there is an interface between all kinds of challenges around the world because there are so many interlinked issues. The Middle East, Syria, the Christian population, the future of the broader Middle East. So, I would start with the absolutely evident that we should commend on President Trump's efforts to bring peace to the Middle East in the same way that he does with all other armed conflicts. For example, the South Caucasus deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. For us, it's really critical that there is peace and prosperity in this very volatile region. But when it comes to the Middle East, I have to say that we need to find a fair and balanced process towards peace. We truly envisage Israel as living in peace and security alongside with Palestinians. At the moment, it's really important. Greece has been a strategic ally towards Israel. We have an amazing strategic relationship with Israel in all respects. But at the same time, Greece is probably amongst the very few countries with a very strong, friendly, brotherly relationship with all Arab states in the region. So we can be considered as honest brokers and credible interlocutors in the broader region.

We envisage our participation in the future of Gaza. We think that we would be of meaningful assistance, both for the humanitarian issues as well as for the reconstruction and potentially also for the stabilization forces. Greece can also be a guarantor for the Christian population. We are very closely looking at what is happening now in Syria. I had the opportunity to be among the first foreign ministers to travel to Damascus after the change of the regime. Clearly, we need to give the benefit of the doubt to the new Syrian government to invest our thoughts to this government after the suffering of the prior regime. On the other hand, we have to be very straightforward and categorical and honest that all populations in Syria and in the broader Middle East should be protected. We need to argue in favor of an inclusive government in Syria and elsewhere. We need to develop synergies concerning tolerance, religious tolerance, and I intend to take a series of initiatives as Greek Foreign Μinister, both at regional level, but also at the level of the United States and the United Nations. You know that Greece is an elected member of the Security Council at this period. So, we intend to take an initiative for the protection of all religious populations in the broader region, and especially Christian populations, because indeed, they're the most vulnerable in this region. We need to very clearly send the signal of inclusivity of all populations. We have been distracted and concerned with incidents of religious violence in the region. We need to work alongside with our American allies in order to develop specific programs to safeguard those populations in conjunction, as well, with the Patriarchate. It's important to provide meaningful guarantees for all Christian populations in the region.

JOURNALIST: Okay, so now, Minister, I unpack a lot into this next question. You got to talk about LNG and energy. It really does feel like LNG is back. President Trump campaigned on ''drill, baby, drill''. You're seeing around the world efforts to produce energy, trade energy, really taking off. Greek ships move. I learned this when I was in Greece earlier this year, move about 25% of the world's LNG. In addition to that, Greece is also producing a lot of LNG domestically. There's what I've learned is called the vertical corridor, which goes up to Ukraine. There's this interconnectivity, as we were talking about there, between all of these different things. We're seeing the ongoing negotiations in Ukraine. I want to see if you can talk a little bit about the future of LNG, Greece's role in that in the region, and how that can affect the looming potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

G. GERAPETRITIS: Energy is developing as a geopolitical factor of critical significance. That's the issue. We all understand how hard power, defense, should be combined with soft power like energy and smart power, such as protection from hybrid threats. What we need to do is to develop as an energy hub, and Greece has indeed become an energy hub in the last six years in an amazing way. First of all, as you rightly pointed out, Greece has the privilege to maintain 25% of the overall maritime fleets in the world. So this is a key factor. On the other hand, we are essentially handling 25% of American LNG worldwide. We have developed our FSRU stations in northern Greece, and this allows us to diversify the routes of LNG throughout Europe. We have developed, this is also an important factor, our renewable energy sources. More than 55% of our energy mix is now coming from renewables. This is important for our energy safety and our autonomous route in the energy sector.

On the other hand, we are developing significant interconnectors. For example, now we are developing an electricity route, an undersea route between Greece and Egypt, and then an undersea route between Greece and Cyprus, and eventually Israel. But when it comes to LNG, I would like to emphasize on the critical significance, especially for Ukraine. Last month, we concluded a series of agreements during the P-TEC summit, and we had the honor to host a number of Secretaries from the United States.

These agreements are of critical importance, firstly because they upgrade Greece as a geopolitical energy hub in Eastern Europe. Secondly, because in this way, the energy security of Ukraine is guaranteed in view of a very difficult winter. Unfortunately, there are ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, and we're really relying on President Trump's effort to bring an end to this aggression. Thirdly, because through the vertical corridor, interconnectivity of Europe becomes a project of high geopolitical significance.

As I mentioned, prior to the war in Ukraine, Greece and Europe were over-dependent on Russia. Almost 45% of natural gas came into Europe through Russia, and that essentially resulted in over-dependence of Europe and Greece. We have made an amazing effort in order to get rid of this dependence. This was very critical for us and for Europe. We realized, and I have to say in a painful way, that overreliances in contemporary worlds are very, very hurtful.

So, at the moment, I think we are in the process to bring further American LNG into Europe, but also to create a sustainable energy environment in Europe, which is going to be mutually beneficial, not only for the European, but also for the American commerce. American LNG is the most credible alternative, obviously, to Russian gas. I need, though, to emphasize, that it's important to actually close all loopholes we have. As you probably know, Europe has imposed a series of sanction packages against Russia, 19 packages. Those packages have been important in the sense that they have reduced the capability of Russia to go on with this work. But the truth is that we need to close any potential circumventions. The energy sector should be clean and devoid of any sort of illegitimate products.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I really want to thank you for joining us. We're out of time here, so thank you, sir.

G.GERAPETRITIS:. Thank you so much.

December 6, 2025