Three Seas Initiative

The Three Seas Initiative, also known as the Baltic, Adriatic, Black Sea (BABS) Initiative, or simply the Three Seas (in Latin, Trimarium), is a forum of twelve states in the European Union, along a north–south axis from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea in Central and Eastern Europe.[2] The Initiative aims to create an Intermarium-based regional dialogue on various questions affecting the member states. The member states are Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and met for their first summit in 2016, in Dubrovnik.

Three Seas Initiative

Map of Europe indicating the twelve member states of the Three Seas Initiative
Membership
Establishment2015
Area
• Total
1,218,975 km2 (470,649 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate
112,194,126
GDP (nominal)2019 estimate
• Total
$2.1 trillion[1]
• Per capita
$17,000

Statistics

The twelve Three Seas countries cover 29 per cent of the EU’s territory (1,210,000 km2), are home to 25 per cent of its inhabitants (112 million) and produce 19 per cent of its GDP (based on purchasing power parity).[3]

History

The current initiative is influenced by the Polish interwar Intermarium concept. The modern Three Seas Initiative was launched in 2015 by Polish President Andrzej Duda and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.[3] It held its first summit in Dubrovnik (Croatia) on 25–26 August 2016. The two-day event ended with a declaration of co-operation in economic matters, particularly in the field of energy as well as transport and communications infrastructure.[2] Polish President Andrzej Duda called the initiative "a new concept to promote Europe's unity and cohesion, it is an idea of cooperation among 12 countries located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas, the three seas of Central Europe."[4] Guest speakers included Chinese Ministerial Assistant for Foreign Affairs Liu Haixing, who talked about the interconnectedness with the Chinese government's Belt and Road Initiative, and former US National Security Advisor, General James L. Jones, who stressed the initiative's role in European development and security.[5][6]

Second summit, 2017 Warsaw

The initiative's second summit was held 6–7 July 2017 in Warsaw. US President Donald Trump attended the summit.[7][8] The participating countries unanimously agreed to set up a Three Seas Business Forum.[9][10]

Third summit, 2018 Bucharest

The initiative's third summit took place 17–18 September 2018 in Bucharest. Participants approved a list of priority interconnection projects in the three key areas – transport, energy and digital.[11] President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry attended the summit as guests. The first edition of the Business Forum was organised at this time. 3SI Network of Chambers of Commerce was created and Letter of Intent in relation to the establishment of the Three Seas Investment Fund was signed here.[12][13]

DateLocationHosting leaderNotes
12016
25–26 August		 Dubrovnik, CroatiaKolinda Grabar-Kitarović[14][15]
22017
6–7 July		 Warsaw, PolandAndrzej DudaU.S. President Donald Trump attended.[16]
32018
17–18 September		 Bucharest, RomaniaKlaus IohannisE.U. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry attended.[17]
42019
5–6 June		 Ljubljana, SloveniaBorut PahorE.U. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry attended.[18][19]
52020
19–20 October[20]		 Tallinn, Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid [21]

Projects
Donald Trump's visit to Poland, July 2017
2018 Three Seas summit in Bucharest

The initiative is closely related to two major infrastructure projects in the region:[22]

Other projects are the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor, Via Baltica road, Rail Baltica and Amber Rail Freight Corridor[23] rail connections.[24]

Three Seas Investment Fund

The initial two founding institutions from Poland and Romania have committed themselves to make payments totaling more than 500 million euros.[25] The Fund is open to other Three Seas countries, which may join it after obtaining appropriate permits. The Supervisory Board of the Fund consists of representatives of development banks from Poland, Romania, Latvia, and the Czech Republic.[26][27]

In 2019, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and Export–Import Bank of Romania[28] signed the founding act of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund.[29] The fund is to focus on projects creating transport, energy and digital infrastructure in the Three Seas region. Private investors from pension funds, private investment funds, and other entities will also be invited to the fund. The aim is to raise up to EUR 3-5 billion.[25]

The fund will engage, on a commercial basis, in infrastructure projects with a total value of up to EUR 100 billion,[30][31] while the needs of the Three Seas region have been estimated at over EUR 570 billion.[32] Its goal is to activate other sources of financing, such as the resources of individual countries of the region or EU funds.

Prior to the 2020 Tallinn Summit, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged up to a billion dollars in financing for the Investment Fund.[33]

Perception

Czechia[34]

The Three Seas Initiative was at the beginning perceived by local experts and diplomats in the Czech Republic rather negatively. It was seen as a Polish attempt to create its sphere of influence (similar to the historical perception of Intermarium). Further fears were related to a possibility of deepening the East-West division in the EU and exclusion of Germany. A long term Czech objection is that there should be no competing geopolitical project in the region that would weaken the EU. Some of those objections have been partially addressed lately also due to a good experience with cooperation on infrastructure projects in the Visegrad group.

See also

References
  1. "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". www.imf.org.
  2. "Dubrovnik Forum adopts declaration called "The Three Seas Initiative"". EBL News. 2016-08-25. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  3. https://pie.net.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PIE-Three-Seas.pdf
  4. "President of the Republic of Poland / News / Minister Szczerski: Three Seas initiative to boost European unity". Prezydent.pl. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  5. "The Three Seas Initiative: Central and Eastern Europe takes charge of its own destiny | Visegrád Post". Visegradpost.com. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  6. Ansley, Rachel. "Making the Three Seas Initiative a Priority for Trump". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  7. "Trump trip to Poland forces 3 Seas summit change". Fox News. 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  8. CNBC (2017-07-04). "FACTBOX-Three Seas Initiative summit in Warsaw". Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  9. "President Rumen Radev in Warsaw: the Joint Projects and Investments of the Central and Eastern European Countries will Make the European Union Stronger". President.bg. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  10. "2018 Summit – Three Seas Initiative". Three-seas.eu. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  11. "The Three Seas Initiative-Priority Interconnection Projects" (PDF). Three-seas.eu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  12. "Press releases". Three Seas Initiative. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  13. "Croatian President at Third Three Seas Initiative Summit". Croatia Week. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  14. "Dubrovnik Forum adopts declaration called "The Three Seas Initiative"". EBL News. 2016-08-25. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  15. "The Three Seas Initiative: Central and Eastern Europe takes charge of its own destiny". Visegrád Post. 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  16. "Read Donald Trump's Remarks at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Poland". Time. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  17. "Three Seas summit in Bucharest seeks backing from Western Europe | DW | 17.09.2018". DW.COM. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  18. "Pobuda Tri morja", Wikipedija, prosta enciklopedija (in Slovenian), 2019-06-05, retrieved 2019-06-05
  19. "Czech and Croatian Presidents Advocate Stronger Central Europe". Total Croatia News. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  20. "Three Seas Summit and Business Forum". 3seas.eu.
  21. "Foreign Minister Reinsalu: we are ready to host the Three Seas Initiative summit in Estonia | Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Vm.ee. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  22. "Poland hopes to tap Trump's business acumen at regional summit". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  23. "Amber Rail Freight Corridor". Rfc-amber.eu.
  24. "From Warsaw to Bucharest - The Way Forward for the Three Seas Initiative". Viacarpatia.eu.
  25. "Three Seas Initiative Summit urges EU to consider its goals". www.sloveniatimes.com. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  26. "Three Seas Initiative Gets Investment Fund". www.total-croatia-news.com. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  27. "The Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund officially established". media.bgk.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  28. "Iohannis at the summit of the Three Seas Initiative :The US economic presence in the region is a true catalyst for co-operation". www.actmedia.eu. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  29. "Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund established | Central Europe Energy Partners". www.ceep.be. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  30. staff, Editorial (2018-08-21). "Polish Briefing: The Three Seas Fund will finance energy investments". BiznesAlert EN. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  31. Patricolo, Claudia (2019-06-11). "Polish and Romanian banks establish Three Seas investment fund". Emerging Europe | News, Intelligence, Community. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  32. "New fund to supplement EU infrastructure project financing | News". Institutional Real Estate, Inc. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  33. "US commits $1 billion dollars to develop Central European infrastructure". February 15, 2020.
  34. "Poláci odhalili projekt Trojmoří. Propojení Pobaltí s jihovýchodem EU přitahuje americké miliardy". Hospodářské noviny CS (in Czech). 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
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