US plans competition for China's dominance of Greek port

The Greek government is in talks with the United States to mount a commercial challenge to the Chinese transport giant Cosco, which has leased around two-thirds of the Greek port of Piraeus since 2016.

The Greek government is planning legislation that would allow a Greek-US company to expand the port of Elefsina, about 10 kilometres west of Piraeus.

The announcement was made Tuesday by Minister for Economic Development Takis Theodorikakos after a meeting with US Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Piraeus has grown into one of Europe's largest container ports, serving as a major logistics hub for China and a strategic lever of Beijing's influence in the region.

In future, the Greek-US group Onex Shipyards & Technologies will be allowed by law to operate in transhipment, energy and port logistics in Greece. Until now, it has only been active in the shipbuilding sector.

At Tuesday's meeting, Guilfoyle referred to the Trump administration's priorities in the areas of energy and security.

She said that Greece was a "strong ally" and that Washington expected a significant expansion of the use of the port of Elefsina as a logistics hub in a geopolitically important zone.

Theodorikakos emphasized that deeper strategic cooperation with the US would strengthen the productive restructuring of the Greek economy.

Two weeks ago, Greece and the US unveiled plans to boost LNG exports to Eastern Europe at an energy summit in Athens.