Without connectivity and integration we cannot achieve quicker convergence and the enormous differences which still exist between Eastern and Western Europe cannot possibly be eliminated. This is what President Rumen Radev told journalists in Bucharest. The Head of State is on a working visit to Romania to take part in the Three Seas initiative summit.

In President Radev’s words, the Three Seas initiative is directed at strengthening the economic integration between the 12 member states from the region, which should contribute “above all to their accelerated economic and social development, and also to eliminating the differences between them and the other Western European countries.”

Bulgaria participates in the initiative with three of its projects, the Head of State’s words made it clear – the construction of a tunnel under the Petrohan pass, rehabilitation of the Ruse-Varna railway line and expanding the capacity of the gas depot in Chiren. “The initiative is open also to new projects. However, its future is largely dependent on whether we will be able to leave the sphere of political talking,” the President further said. Rumen Radev added that it is namely the ability of the countries from the region to unite around projects of mutual interest and the attraction of funds for their implementation that will determine its future.

The President also voiced hope for taking concrete actions to implement the structure of the initiative itself, the mechanisms for its management, the criteria for identifying the priorities in the specified projects and above all with respect to the funding. “We are speaking about European mechanisms and trans-Atlantic partnership. However, all this is the subject of forthcoming talks,” Rumen Radev further commented.

The Presidents of Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are taking part in the Three Seas initiative. The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, the US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and senior representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank are participating in the work of the forum.

Within the summit, a business forum is held today in Bucharest, the aim of which is to outline the opportunities for implementing joint projects in the sphere of regional connectivity.