The Three Seas Initiative Summit

Bucharest is playing host to the 3rd summit of the Three Seas Initiative.

Corina Cristea, 17.09.2018, 12:12

Nine presidents, two Parliament speakers, a prime minister and a foreign minister along with a number of European and American officials are these days attending the Three Seas Initiative Summit held in Bucharest. The event focuses on economic projects for the development of the area stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. The Three Seas Initiative is a flexible political platform launched in 2015 comprising 12 EU member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The Summit is aimed at taking concrete steps towards boosting regional interconnectivity in three key sectors: energy, transport and digital. To that end, talks revolve around clear-cut ways of developing regional connectivity, increasing the convergence and cohesion of the EU and at the same time strengthening transatlantic relations. The Summit in Bucharest is also aimed at setting up a network of chambers of commerce as well as an Initiative investment fund. One of the projects Romania is fostering as part of the Summit is the creation of a smart digital platform for monitoring the hydrographic basins in Central Europe.

Another project on the agenda for talks is the creation of a railway linking the Polish city of Gdansk to Constanta, Romania, to be used for trade and the quick transport of military troops and equipment. In the energy field, talks are underway to transport gas from the Caspian Sea to Romania’s southern borders and then to the country’s Hungarian border, as part of the BRUA natural gas pipeline. For the first time, the Three Seas Initiative summit is attended by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Also for the first time the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum is being held on the sidelines of the event. Taking part are businesses and government officials from Initiative partner states, but also the United States, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and states in the European Union and the Western Balkans. The guest list includes representatives of the European Commission and European and international financial institutions, as well as representatives of think tanks and academia. In a message to President Klaus Iohannis, US President Donald Trump said the Three Seas Initiative has a huge potential and that Washington is proud to support this effort.