The contribution of the Three Seas Initiative to the European Union and its values - cohesion, consolidation and prosperity - is obvious, Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman said during a virtual summit meeting on Monday.

The Three Seas Initiative was held online with Estonia as the host.

Grlic Radman underlined that the “Three Seas Initiative’s contribution to the European and its values – cohesion, consolidation and prosperity – is obvious.”

The initiative is a joint Croatian-Polish project that was launched in Dubrovnik in the summer of 2016 with the aim of strengthening trade, infrastructure, energy and political cooperation in the area between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas.

“Intergovernmental cooperation in the area of the initiative represents a natural progress of this informal platform for cooperation between EU member states and enables the implementation of practical solutions aimed at a stronger economic growth,” Grlic Radman said.

The initiative brings together 12 EU member states – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

It is supported by the USA, Germany and the European Commission whose representatives also addressed the virtual summit.

Croatia’s minister recalled that at the moment one of the main energy projects is nearing completion and that is the LNG terminal on Krk island which will mean that “Croatia will contribute to energy diversification in the European Union.”

Earlier Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that the Croatian government “remains committed to the initiative’s strategic objectives.”

He recalled that the government had authorised the foreign ministry to coordinate activities within the initiative and that Croatia would contribute up to €20 million to the initiative’s investment fund via the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The next summit will be held in the summer of 2021 in Sofia.