Vilnius, April 11 (BTA/GNA) – Since the first summit of the Three Seas Initiative eight years ago, this format has managed to consolidate significant political support with the main goal – the social and economic development of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe by catching up with the connectivity gap – energy, transport and digital, said Bulgarian President Rumen Radev upon his arrival to attend the summit within the ninth edition of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius.
“The far-sightedness of this idea has been particularly evident in recent years, when crises of all kinds have hit us – COVID-19, energy, the war in Ukraine. And these crises led to a dramatic disruption of supplies. Overcoming them requires precisely connectivity between our countries,” the head of State continued.
One of the main problems and challenges facing the Initiative is the lack of sufficient funds in the investment fund to match the level of ambition for large-scale infrastructure projects. Against this background, Bulgaria is making the most of the Initiative. Four years ago this country invested EUR 20 million into the Investment Fund, and it managed to attract EUR 200 million of capital into transport and energy. So Bulgaria has managed to do a tremendous job in supporting precisely its connectivity, the development of energy and transport, the President further said.
According to Radev, Bulgaria has made a significant contribution to the development of the Initiative. During the Bulgarian presidency of the Sofia Summit in 2021, President Radev proposed another important axis of cooperation for the future, namely cooperation in innovation, science and research. This idea was strongly supported and Three Seas Innovation Fund was set up. It has progressed and is now working successfully together with the European Investment Fund. In this way Bulgaria contributes to the development of competitiveness and sustainable development of the whole region, the head of State summarized.
The Three Seas Initiative is a political project of thirteen EU countries located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas, including Bulgaria. The Initiative also involves Lithuania, whose President Gitanas Nauseda is hosting the current forum, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and Greece.
Ukraine and Moldova are associate members. The aim of the Three Seas Initiative is to foster faster development and convergence of the region by increasing the interconnectivity of member states in the fields of transport, energy, and digitization, in particular along the North-South axis, with the aim of improving EU cohesion and consolidating the EU-US transatlantic partnership.
BTA/GNA