3SI summit comes to a close in Dubrovnik

The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) summit and economic forum came to a close in Dubrovnik on Wednesday. The summit gathered more than one thousand and six hundred participants, who discussed transport, energy security, digital connectivity, strategic infrastructure and increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the European Union.

During the panel of the leaders of 3SI member state leaders, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that the initiative has strong prospects for further growth: "The message that we are sending here is basically that we want equal treatment. Treatment of infrastructure of energy of digital transformation of global trends, which was put at the center of this political initiative. And the special added value is the continued presence and support of the United States, with other partners. So I think this was the most important achievement during the first decade. The second decade, I think, needs to structure a bit more the concept of financing of many projects which are there, whether it's private investment, whether it's institutional - meaning the EU, or whether it's by the financial institutions. I think this is a big requirement, so that the initiative can gain a form of a sustained organization that can continue delivering."

The initiative's founders former Polish President Andrzej Duda and former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović were also on hand for the summit, with the latter commenting on the reasons for establishing the initiative: "When President Duda, Andrzej and I started out, we were not looking at divisions. So the point of the initiative was not to divide but to connect. To connect the north and south of central Europe, which had been neglected in terms of the three infrastructure pillars."

Also on hand was US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who said Western Europe had de-industrialized itself in its fight against climate change: "We don't want to see that continue to happen in Europe, and we see the dynamism, as they say, in Croatia and these eastern and central European nations. They can bring back life, optimism, building of new energy infrastructure, building of modern manufacturing, and the building of data centers."

In an interview for Croatian Radio after the panel, Prime Minister Plenković commented on the strong American interest in the Three Seas Initiative: "Croatia is relevant today. And that's why there are so many American companies from the energy sector here, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who sent a strong message at the summit. But who was also brought a massive business delegation to this summit, where investors are very serious. And this is a big step forward. Not only with regard to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in my opinion, after the Homeland War this is perhaps the greatest moment of cooperation with the United States. One that Croatia has not achieved in the last 35 years."

Source: HRT