A Three Seas Initiative forum will be held in Slovenia on Wednesday and Thursday, and the event will be attended by heads of state of 12 central and eastern European countries, including Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, her office announced on Monday.

The Three Seas Initiative was launched in 2015 and comprises 12 EU member states located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas: Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Its objective is to bolster regional dialogue and connect the countries between the north and the south.

Emphasis is on cooperation in projects of common interest with a view to increasing energy security, strengthening road and digital connections, and developing the market and social cohesion.

Three summits have been held to date – in Dubrovnik in 2016, in Warsaw in 2017 and in Bucharest in 2018. This year’s summit is taking place in Brdo Pri Kranju and Ljubljana, and will be supported by a business forum.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been invited, although his country did not attend the previous summits at presidential level. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and a high US representative have also been invited.

The summit will discuss investment in the economy, transport connections, the energy infrastructure, environmental protection, research and development, and digital communications.