Duda welcomes Greece joining Three Seas Initiative

Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, has welcomed Greece’s accession to the Three Seas Initiative.

Greece got the formal nod of approval to join at the 8th Summit and Business Forum of the Three Seas Initiative in Bucharest.

Moldova and Ukraine were also welcomed as associate partners of the Three Seas, which describes itself as a "platform for improving connectivity between 12 (now 13 – PAP) EU member states allocated between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas."

During a joint press conference with other presidents Duda said "the success of this summit is the accession of Greece to the Three Seas Initiative.”

"Greece was accepted as a European Union country with full membership rights to the Three Seas Initiative, but (success is - PAP) also the accession of Moldova and Ukraine as associated partners; two countries that are on the path to joining the European Union," he added.

"The war in Ukraine, the need to deliver to Ukraine and export products from Ukraine - so that Ukraine can function as normally as possible in this extremely difficult situation - have shown how important infrastructure connections are in Central Europe and how important cooperation is between our countries," Duda continued.

The president said that "during the years 2018-2021, the Three Seas countries spent over EUR 80 billion on infrastructure projects alone."

"If we add spending on research and development, it is already EUR 117 billion," he added.