Goals and mission

The Three Seas Initiative brings together 12 EU Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

It was lunched, at Presidential level, in 2015, as a platform for cooperation among the countries in the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea regions. One of the main aims of the initiative is to enhance economic convergence between the countries of the region and the Western European countries through the development of transport, digital and energy infrastructure and connectivity. The project relies on an active partnership with the European Commission, Germany and the United States.

The Three Seas region is a geographical and economic border region of the EU. Despite the different historical developments of each country, all bear the effects of the Iron Curtain, which divided the continent in the middle of the 20th century and changed the development, connections and natural progress in the central and eastern part of the continent. Part of these consequences are the lack of modern infrastructure and connectivity, as well as the lack of investment for their construction.

Overcoming this deficit is the main idea of the presidents of Croatia and Poland who created the initiative to attract investor interest in the development of Eastern Europe.

Since 2015, five summits held at presidential level have been organized and the initiative has expanded to include an annual business forum and an investment fund Three Seas operating on a commercial basis. Bulgaria will host the sixth summit in Sofia, taking on the presidency from Estonia.