Bulgaria, Greece talk energy cooperation, regional stability

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Leaders of Bulgaria and Greece have discussed bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, with an emphasis on reducing their reliance on Russian gas through the speedy completion of a gas interconnector linking the neighboring countries. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with his Bulgarian counterpart, Kiril Petkov, and the country’s president, Rumen Radev. The interconnector is important for Bulgaria because it would mark the first break of the Russian monopoly on the Bulgarian gas market. It will link to a pipeline that transits Azerbaijani gas from Greece to Italy. Bulgaria already has a deal with Azerbaijan to import annually one billion cubic meters of gas, or nearly one-third of its consumption.