Slovakia and Poland Support Development of Three Seas Initiative Projects

Bratislava, 22 July (TASR) - During its presidency of the Three Seas Initiative, Slovakia wants to closely cooperate with Poland on further developing regional cooperation and advancing priority infrastructure projects, said Foreign Affairs Ministry's State Secretary Rastislav Chovanec, who received a Polish delegation led by deputy director of the Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry's Economic Section Sebastian Barkowski on Tuesday (21 July), TASR has learnt from the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry's communication department. "Poland, as the largest and founding member of the Three Seas Initiative, is striving to raise awareness of its importance, while it is essential for Slovakia to take into account the interests of individual participating countries. During our current presidency, which will culminate with the presidential summit and business forum in Bratislava in April 2027, we are keen to work closely and exchange experience with our Polish partners," said the state secretary. At the same time, both sides agreed that cooperation within the Three Seas Initiative must be based on sound economic principles and the principle of return on investment, while it must create opportunities to increase investment in the participating countries and help reduce regional disparities between them. The talks also followed up on the conclusions of the Three Seas Initiative presidential summit held in April in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The partners discussed the priorities of Slovakia's leadership, focusing in particular on the further development of infrastructure projects in the areas of transport, energy and digitalisation, as well as on fostering innovation. The state secretary also highlighted Slovakia's strengths in advanced industries and confirmed the country's interest in developing bilateral cooperation in innovative sectors. "Slovakia has a high-quality talent pool in emerging digital technologies and artificial intelligence. We would like to deepen our dialogue with Poland in these areas," said Chovanec. The Three Seas Initiative was established in 2016 and brings together 13 EU countries. Its aim is to strengthen cooperation and support the development of macro-regional projects in the area of energy, transport and digital connectivity along the north–south corridor between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. ko