The United States will ensure $1 billion for the Three Seas Initiative, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday, talking about a project Croatia participates in.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he said, “through our International Development Finance Corporation, and with the support of the US Congress, (the US) intends to provide up to $1 billion in financing to the Central and Eastern European countries of the Three Seas Initiative.”

“Our aim is to protect democracies through strong private and public sectors,” he added.

The Three Seas Initiative is an informal political platform of EU member states and Central and Eastern European countries on the Adriatic-Baltic-Black Sea stretch.

The project was especially promoted by outgoing Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Polish President Andrzej Duda to achieve stronger connectivity within the region in energy, the transport infrastructure and digital communications and to reduce the gap between Central and Eastern Europe.