Romania hosts summit to boost ties among 12 EU nations, partners

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the plenary session via video-link. Pic/AP

A two-day summit in Romania began on Wednesday bringing together 12 European Union member states situated between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas, as the grouping of mostly formerly communist countries aims to boost ties amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Three Seas Initiative, which is being held in the capital, Bucharest, hosts high-ranking officials from EU countries as well as representatives from partner countries and aims to improve interconnectivity in the transportation, energy, and digital fields.

Before the event, the office of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that during the summit, he would emphasize the importance of the initiative a year and a half after Russia's "brutal and illegal aggression" against Ukraine for its importance in strengthening regional and European resilience".

Addressing the initiative on Wednesday via video link, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia's recent attacks on Ukraine's Danube ports are "at the border of our three seas," referring to a recent drone attack. Romania's defense minister, Angel Tilvar, said that apparently pieces of the drone have been found on his country's territory, a NATO member.

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Launched in 2016, the Three Seas Initiative includes Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Estonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania. Austria is the only member that isn't formerly a communist country. The initiative is said to be "born out of a shared interest in developing transport, energy and digital infrastructure connections on the EU's north-south axis."

2016
Year the initiative was launched

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