Germany wants to join the Three Seas initiative – an economic and energy forum dominated by the eastern EU countries. The aspiration is part of what Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called “a new Ostpolitik” on Tuesday, referring to Berlin’s traditional policy towards Russia.
The forum focuses on reducing energy dependence on Russia at a time when Germany builds a new pipeline for Russia. The leading members of the club are Hungary and Poland.
Earlier this week, the High Level Summit of the Three Seas Initiative took place. Representatives from 12 countries between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas attended, including Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, and special guests from the United States, Germany and the European Commission. Representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank also participated in the Forum Sessions for the first time.
The political leaders participating in the Summit in Bucharest reached an agreement to support projects in three major areas: energy, transport and the digital sector. The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker announced that €150 billion will be invested between the Adriatic and Black Sea.
The Three Seas Initiative is seen as part of Brussels’s efforts to remove differences between Eastern and Western Europe. The presence of Jean-Claude Juncker at the meeting in Bucharest shows the importance given to the project, especially when it comes to concrete proposals. At the same time, the economic presence of the US in the region is a catalyst for development in the area, but also part of the transatlantic agreement.
Berlin’s willingness to become part of the project is yet to be discussed in Washington through the prism of US’s own interests. For the White House, the Three Seas Initiative is a tool by which the US tries to hold Germany from developing closer ties with Russia and also to move the geopolitical pivot between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Sea in its sphere of influence. The initiative is thus shaped as an interesting field of collision of energy interests of several large blocks and countries.
