On Tuesday in Warsaw, the Croatian Prime Minister announced that Croatia will assume the presidency of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI)—an informal platform launched in 2015 by Zagreb and Warsaw. Presidents of the 3SI member states emphasized that the initiative has brought energy security and resilience to participating countries, calling it a “strategic platform.”

Andrej Plenković took part in the presidential business panel titled “Connecting for Growth,” held alongside the summit, joined by around a dozen heads of state from the initiative.

“As Croatia takes over the presidency of the 3SI, we look forward to hosting the summit and business forum next year. Our main priorities will be to strengthen economic and energy cooperation and enhance infrastructure connectivity across the Baltic-Adriatic-Black Sea region,” said the Prime Minister.

Plenković also highlighted the importance of improving financing for initiative-related projects and boosting parliamentary cooperation. In the context of transatlantic relations, he noted the significance of the presence of U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright at the summit.

He praised former President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović as a “visionary,” along with Polish President Andrzej Duda, for launching the initiative ten years ago to connect countries along the vertical axis between the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Seas. The aim was to bridge the development gap between this region and Western Europe, and the initiative has since proven to be extremely important, surpassing its original goals.

Plenković also reiterated that Croatia is becoming a new energy hub, emphasizing the strategic role of Rijeka and Krk. He noted that the capacity of the LNG terminal on the island of Krk has been expanded to 6.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year, enabling the supply of other Central and Eastern European countries.