The leaders of the member states of the Three Seas Initiative meet in Bucharest

The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, will host tomorrow, September 6, 2023, at the Cotroceni Palace, the 8th edition of the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative (I3M), according to a press release sent yesterday by the Administration Presidential. The high-level event will be attended by representatives from all 12 countries participating in the Initiative (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, along with the host country, Romania), the strategic partners of I3M (the United States, the European Commission and Germany), a number of special guests (Greece, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Turkey), as well as representatives of important international organizations (the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development , European Investment Bank, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Monetary Fund, World Bank).

"During the summit, President Iohannis will highlight the political importance and the potential of the Three Seas Initiative to contribute to reducing the development gaps between the states participating in the I3M and the rest of the member states of the European Union, by strengthening strategic European connectivity on the North-South axis. Also, President Klaus Iohannis will highlight the contribution of the Three Seas Initiative to strengthening cohesion within the EU and deepening transatlantic ties, processes that our country supported during the entire mandate at the helm of the Initiative. The head of state will emphasize that, more than a year and a half after the beginning of Russia's brutal and illegal aggression against Ukraine, I3M has reconfirmed the validity of its concept and the urgency of implementing its goals, in the current geopolitical context this high-level political dialogue platform has become a important tool for strengthening regional and European resilience", the cited document states.

Summit participants will also discuss the development of new tools and partnerships to catalyze investments in priority I3M projects, including through the creation of a new Investment Fund, which will continue the activity of the one initiated at the Bucharest Summit in 2018, and the examination of the most effective ways to create an Innovation Fund of the Initiative. On the occasion of the Summit, the list of strategic priority projects will also be updated, the first such list being launched on the occasion of the previous Summit in Bucharest.

At the end of the Summit, a joint declaration will be adopted, which will constitute an important landmark for the future activities of I3M, aiming at the directions of action for the development of cross-border interconnections in the field of transport infrastructure, energy and digitalization, but also regarding the consolidation and diversification of financial instruments of the Initiative. By adopting the Bucharest Declaration, Greece will become the 13th participating state in the Initiative, and Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova will obtain the status of participating states associated with I3M.

On the sidelines of the Summit, a new edition of the I3M Business Forum will be organized on Thursday, September 7, by the Government of Romania, under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

Romania is the first of the I3M participating states to organize a Summit of the Initiative for the second time, after the one hosted on September 17-18, 2018. On the occasion of the first Summit in Bucharest, essential decisions were adopted for the future of the Initiative, such as: agreeing the list of major priority interconnection projects in the fields of transport, energy and digital; organizing the first Business Forum of the Three Seas Initiative; launching the I3M Chambers of Commerce network (by signing the Joint Declaration establishing this network); initiating the procedure for launching the Investment Fund of the Three Seas Initiative (by signing the Letter of Intent regarding its creation).