Pellegrini: Three Seas Investments a Necessity, Key to Region's Resilience

Dubrovnik/Bratislava, 28 April (TASR-correspondent) – Investments in connecting the countries of the Three Seas Initiative are not luxury expenditure but a prerequisite for the region's functioning in a complex geopolitical environment, President Peter Pellegrini said at a press conference following the initiative's session in Dubrovnik.

TASR learnt the news from its special correspondent.

Pellegrini pointed to Slovakia's experience with using oil supplies via the Adria pipeline when Russian oil was not flowing to the country through the Druzhba pipeline. "Without this energy interconnection of our countries, we would have a fundamental problem in our region," the president said.

According to Pellegrini, energy connectivity will remain crucial in the future. He noted that Croatia plans to build a new artificial intelligence data centre, which will require additional energy capacity, and that Slovakia has a similar plan.

At the press conference, Pellegrini, together with Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, also discussed concrete investment opportunities. They highlighted the possibility of using European funds to finance joint projects, with other options including private investment or a joint fund.

"We, as Slovakia, as well as other countries, must reassess our approach to voluntary contributions to these funds if we want to accelerate construction," the Slovak president added.

Pellegrini also agreed with Plenkovic and Nawrocki on the strategic importance of investments from the United States. "If a country like the United States invests somewhere, it will have a stronger interest in defending that country if necessary, as it would also be protecting its own investments," he said.

The Three Seas Initiative brings together 13 participating states: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. In addition, four associated countries — Ukraine, Moldova, Albania and Montenegro – and seven strategic partners – the United States, Germany, the European Commission, Japan, Spain, Turkey and Italy, which was admitted at this year's summit – are involved.

The initiative's summit is scheduled to take place in Slovakia in 2027.