President Radev in Vilnius: Bulgaria makes the most of the opportunities of the Three Seas Initiative

Infrastructure connectivity in the energy, transport and digital spheres along the North-South axis should remain at the core of the Three Seas Initiative, as it is strategically important for the entire European Union, Bulgaria’s Head of State, Rumen Radev, said in his speech at the presidential panel of the Three Seas Summit in Vilnius. The event was hosted by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda , who welcomed the heads of delegations to the forum, the Head of State's press secretariat said on April 11.

The Three Seas Initiative brings together 13 EU countries - Bulgaria, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece. The Initiative's strategic partners are Germany, the European Commission and the United States, as well as Japan, while Ukraine and Moldova enjoy the status of associated participating states.

President Radev noted that under the Three Seas Initiative, Bulgaria has managed to attract capital in the amount of about 200 million euros in the transport and energy sectors. "Bulgaria has made the most of the opportunities of the initiative and we have managed to make a lot of progress and receive support precisely for the development of our connectivity, for the development of energy and transport," Rumen Radev said in response to a journalist's question upon his arrival at the Vilnius Summit. The capital attracted by this country for projects is about 10 times the amount of money invested by Bulgaria in the Three Seas Investment Fund.

Along with the concrete practical benefits, Bulgaria has made a significant contribution to the development of the initiative, Rumen Radev said. The President added that during Bulgaria's presidency of the Summit in Sofia, which he hosted in 2021, Bulgaria had set the promotion of cooperation in the field of innovation, science and research as the focus of the initiative. "This idea of ours has received strong support and we have agreed to establish the Three Seas Innovation Fund, which has progressed," Rumen Radev said, noting that the Three Seas Innovation Fund is now working successfully together with the European Investment Fund. In the President's words, deepening partnerships in the field of innovation, science and research promotes the development of competitiveness and sustainable development of the entire region.

The Bulgarian President said that since the first Summit of the Initiative 8 years ago, this format has managed to consolidate significant political support, the main objective of which is the social and economic development of the Central and Eastern European countries by catching up with the connectivity gap in the energy, transport and digital spheres. The Head of State noted that the importance and the far-sightedness of this idea has been particularly evident in recent years, in the context of a number of crises. The COVID-19 pandemic, energy crisis, the war in Ukraine have led to drastic disruption of supplies. Overcoming these crises requires connectivity between our countries, Rumen Radev said.

One of the main challenges facing the Initiative is the lack of sufficient funds in the Investment Fund to match the level of ambition for large-scale infrastructure projects, the President said.

During the presidential panel in Vilnius, the Bulgarian Head of State pointed out that it is crucial for the Initiative to remain focused on issues of practical importance that will strengthen cohesion across the European Union.