On 6–7 September 2023, the eighth edition of the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum took place in Bucharest. Romania became the first of the states participating in the Initiative to host these events for the second time, after the editions held in 2018, also in Romanian capital. Daniel Martínek, IDM Research Associate, attended the event on behalf of IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer and was a speaker at the side event “Democratic Values: Challenges and Opportunities”, co-organised by the Romanian Ministry of Education and the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), on the occasion of a new edition of the Three Seas Business Forum. Schäffer has contributed with a working paper on Austria and 3SI to the “Anticipating the 2023 Three Seas Initiative Bucharest Summit. Advancing the common agenda”.
Martínek spoke on the panel on “Regional perspective over the 3SI challenges and opportunities” analysing issues such as societal polarisation, political fragmentation or disinformation and propaganda in the framework of the member states of the Three Seas Initiative, currently the most ambitious regional and geopolitical cooperation format in Europe.
During the pivotal summit, Greece was accepted as the 13th member of the Initiative and the Republic of Moldova was granted the status of an associate partner after Ukraine (granted in 2022). Hundreds of guests, representatives of the business environment, experts and decision-makers attended the 3SI Business Forum to discuss strategies and investments in three main areas of the Initiative – Energy, Transportation and Digitalisation – in order to unlock the full potential of this geopolitically growing region of Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe.
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