Radev: Bulgaria takes maximum advantage of the "Three Seas" Initiative

From the first summit meeting of the "Three Seas" eight years ago until now, this format has managed to consolidate significant political support with the main goal – the social and economic development of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe by catching up on the lag in connectivity - energy, transport and digital". This was stated by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev upon his arrival to participate in the summit within the ninth edition of the "Three Seas" Initiative. in the Palace of the Grand Dukes in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, BTA reported.

"The foresight of this idea has become particularly evident in recent years, when we have been hit by crises of all kinds – COVID-19, energy, the war in Ukraine. And these crises led to a dramatic disruption of supply. Overcoming them requires connectivity between our countries," the head of state continued.

"Also, one of the main problems and challenges facing the Initiative is the lack of sufficient funds in the investment fund to meet the level of ambition for large-scale infrastructure projects. But against this background, I want to share that Bulgaria is making the most of the Initiative. Just notice - four years ago we invested 20 million euros in the Investment Fund, and we managed to attract capital in transport and energy for 200 million. So Bulgaria managed to do a huge job to support precisely our connectivity, for the development of energy and transport" ;, the president also said.

"But along with the specific practical benefits, I can say that Bulgaria has made a significant contribution to the development of the Initiative. During the Bulgarian presidency of the Summit in Sofia, which I hosted in 2021, Bulgaria proposed another important axis of cooperation for the future, namely cooperation in innovation, science and scientific research. And this idea of ours was strongly supported and we reached an agreement to create an innovation fund of "Three Seas". So, this fund is progressing and is already working successfully together with the European Investment Fund. In this way, Bulgaria makes its contribution to the development of competitiveness and sustainable development of the entire region", Radev summarized.

The "Three Seas" initiative is a political project of 13 EU countries located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas, including Bulgaria. Also participating are Lithuania, whose president Gitanas Nauseda is hosting the forum today, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Greece.

Associate members are Ukraine and Moldova. The purpose of the "Three Seas" Initiative is to promote faster development and convergence of the region by increasing the interconnection of Member States in the field of transport, energy and digitalisation, in particular along the North-South axis, with the aim of improving EU convergence and consolidating the transatlantic partnership between EU and USA.