The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) is a political format of 12 EU member states located in Eastern Europe between the Adriatic, the Baltic and the Black Seas set up to foster sectoral and business cooperation across Europe´s eastern flank. Born in 2015, the initiative has its roots in the United States mentorship during the second Obama administration´s term. Building upon on those roots, the Biden administration has endorsed the 3SI while focusing on democratic security agenda. On December 9-10 Washington will host the first of two Summits for Democracy which will bring together leaders from government, civil society and the private sector to tackle threats faced by democracies today. The 3SI functions through a private fund which has several key allies from the Western world. The initiative is tasked with investing in private-public partnerships in 3SI transnational projects focused on transportation, energy, digital infrastructure as well as civil society initiatives in the future. Its purpose is to reinforce transnational cooperation between member countries which currently face clusters of challenges ranging from resurgent nationalism, democratic backsliding and geopolitical hybrid interference to increasing influence of China and military conflicts sponsored by Russia or its revisionists allies.
In this presentation the three speakers will discuss the 3SI from the perspectives of EU security, of the non-Nato member states Austria and Finland, of the planned civil society initiatives and state governance.
The webinar is organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Latvia in Austria, Res Publica Foundation, Warsaw and European Council on Foreign Relations, Sofia.
