On 27 October, the State Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, the country’s national coordinator for the Three Seas Initiative (3SI), Paweł Jabłoński. The officials discussed latest developments concerning the 3SI region, bilateral cooperation between Latvia and Poland, and current foreign policy issues.
The State Secretary underlined that in the summer of 2022, Riga would host the 3SI Summit and Business Forum. Preparations are already underway to ensure a successful summit meeting.
Andris Pelšs noted that in the course of the Three Seas Initiative Summit and Business Forum, Latvia will continue highlighting the importance of attracting investments to the region in order to develop infrastructure in the transport, energy and digital sectors in a sustainable and inclusive manner. Thereby, we shall promote the region’s economic growth and resilience as well as strengthening the EU-level cohesion and transatlantic cooperation links, the State Secretary said.
Paweł Jabłoński thanked Latvia for taking over the duties of organizing the summit and the business forum and said Poland was prepared to support Latvia with the practical modalities for the organisation.
The officials were of the same mind about the 3SI’s strategic and geopolitical importance, the need to raise its profile and engage with strategic partners and other likeminded countries. The importance was underlined of involving all the 3SI countries, the United States, as well as private investors in the Three Seas Investment Fund.
Background information
The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) launched in 2016 is a regional economic cooperation platform established with the aim of implementing physical infrastructure projects to decrease the connectivity gaps along the European Union’s north-south axis in the fields of transport, energy and digital communication. Previous Three Seas Initiative Summits took place in Croatia (2016), Poland (2017), Romania (2018), Slovenia (2019), Estonia (2020) and Bulgaria (2021); the sixth TSI Summit is to take place in Bulgaria on 8–9 July 2021.
The 3SI comprises the 12 EU countries located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. 3SI strategic partners are the USA, Germany and the European Commission.
The Three Seas Investment Fund has been established with the goal of developing a strong regional economic backbone and providing a strategic platform for the implementation of major infrastructure projects. The structure of the Investment Fund enables participation of both private and institutional investors as well as international financial institutions. On 16 September 2020, a Latvian state-owned development finance institution, ALTUM, officially joined the 3SI Investment Fund.
On 8 and 9 July 2021, the Three Seas Initiative and Business Forum took place in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. Latvia was represented at the event by its President Egils Levits. The summit also brought together the 3SI’s strategic partners – the U.S., Germany and the European Commission – as well as high ranking delegates from France, the United Kingdom and Japan. This confirms the increasing interest in the 3SI also beyond the region. During the Sofia Summit, the President of Latvia officially announced that Riga would host the 3SI Summit and Business Forum in the summer of 2022.