January promises to be a tough month as the Mitsotakis government is set to embark on a diplomatic drive to counter Turkish expansionism in the region and to secure Greece’s energy plans.

According to greekreporter.com Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his ministers will try to project Greece as bastion of stability in the east Mediterranean and also raise its profile as an energy hub through its EastMed agreement with Cyprus and Israel.

The whirlwind begins on Thursday, January 2, when he welcomes to Athens Benjmain Netanyahu of Israel and Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus to sign the agreement that will make make the EastMed pipeline a reality.

The agreement will provide for a 2000km long pipeline that will transfer up to 12 billion cubic meters a year of natural gas from reserves between Israel and Cyprus to Greece and then on to Italy and other southern European countries.

On January 7, the postponed meeting with US President Donald Trump will take place at the White House in Washington. At this meeting Mr Mitsotakis is expected to draw attention to Turkish actions that are stoking up tensions in the region including developments leading from the Turkey-Libya agreement signed in November.

READ MORE: Erdogan threatens to send troops to prop up Libyan government

Mr Mitsotakis is then to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The French have shown strong support for Greece and have expressed interest in development in the southeastern Mediterranean. Mr Mitsotakis will be supported by the recent stance taken by the European Council and by international maritime law regarding regarding the Turkey-Libya agreement.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias kicks off 2020 with meetings on Monday in Rome between Greek and Italian experts over the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) between the two countries.

He then travels to Cairo, on January 4-5, for a meeting with Egyptian and Cyprus counterparts which will also be attended by France to discuss security, energy and developments in the region under the 3+1 Scheme. The scheme seeks to engage France in security and energy issues that affect the eastern Mediterranean.

Mr Dendias will then accompany the prime minister to Washington on January 7. On the following day he will hold staff-level talks with Egypt over the delimitation of maritime zones.

The foreign minister will then fly to Morocco, a country that has an influential role in Libya.

On January 15-16, Mr Dendia will be in Cairo to attend an EastMed Gas Forum.

READ MORE: Greece can talk Turkey but not under a cloud of threats, says Mitsotakis

Meanwhile, Vima reports that Mr Mitsotakis wants Greece to be part of United Nations-sponsored talks on the Libya conflict.

In November Turkey signed a defence and maritime boundaries agreement with Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) which is based in Tripoli and is recognised by the UN. Under that agreement, Turkey has begun sending special forces and technical support to the Libyans.

Turkey is now threatening to send ground troops to back the GNA against the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) which is led General Khalifa Haftar. The LNA is supported by Egypt, Jordan, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and France.

“We do not want to be a source of instability in our neighbourhood. Therefore, we want a say in developments in Libya,” said Mr Mitsotakis in an interview. “We want to be part of the solution in Libya, as it concerns us too.”

The UN has announced that an international conference on Libya is to be held in Berliln next month that will seek a political solution to the conflict in Libya.

“I have requested, and will do so again with greater insistence, that we participate in the Berlin process,” said Mr Mitsotakis.