Polish President Andrzej Duda said that the Three Seas Initiative economic partnership will be expanded to include Montenegro and Albania as associate countries, while Turkey and Spain will join as strategic partners.
“Montenegro and Albania will officially join the Three Seas Initiative as associated participating states, while Türkiye and Spain will join us as strategic partners. This is great news,” Duda said in a speech at the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw at the opening of a business event as part of the 10th Three Seas Initiative summit.
The Three Seas Initiative was launched in 2015 and brings together Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Estonia. In 2022, Ukraine was granted partner status, followed by Moldova a year later. The organisation is engaged in infrastructure development and investment promotion, and aims to strengthen Poland’s position in Eastern Europe.
“This year’s summit is particularly important due to the current geopolitical situation and the war taking place beyond Poland’s eastern border,” Duda said.
The president said he was pleased to announce “the expansion of the Three Seas Initiative to include new countries that want to strengthen co-operation in the region,” adding that these were Montenegro and Albania.
The 10th anniversary summit of the Three Seas Initiative is taking place in Warsaw on April 28-29 with the participation of high-level delegations from more than 20 countries.
The initiative consists of 13 member countries, four strategic partners and two associate members.
“There is no doubt that the Three Seas Initiative has become the most important platform for regional co-operation in our part of Europe and, I believe, in the European Union. We are the driving force of the European economy and a very attractive destination for investment in these challenging times,” the presidential office said in a statement.
According to Duda, the Three Seas Region is home to 120 million people and is showing strong economic growth.
“Today, the Three Seas Region is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, with a projected GDP growth of 35% by 2030. This co-operation is creating strategic transport routes such as Via Baltica, Rail Baltica or Via Carpatia – corridors linking Central Europe with the rest of the continent and a gateway for investment from the Middle East and Africa,” Duda said.
US President Donald Trump attended the Initiative summit in 2017 during his first term. He was invited again this time, but the United States is represented by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The participants in the Three Seas Initiative rely more on Washington than Brussels for energy issues. Poland and the US have signed a new agreement on the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The parties also discussed US LNG supplies to Eastern Europe.
