U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed U.S. support for the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Sea Initiative in a speech Monday (Oct. 19) at the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Sea Initiative video summit. He said it is an opportunity for European countries to remain strong, free and aligned with the United States. The United States hopes to strengthen U.S. influence in Europe and deter further Chinese penetration there by providing diplomatic and economic support for the Three Seas Initiative.
Secretary of State Pompeo reiterated Monday at the Three Seas Initiative summit hosted by the Estonian government U.S. support for the 12 Three Seas member states’ “efforts to expand energy, digital and transportation infrastructure in ways that improve the economic security of future generations.
“We have an opportunity now to jump-start growth and attract private sector investment while raising living standards over the long term. In addition, we have an opportunity to connect our infrastructure and energy markets to bring economic security to future generations,” he said. “We have an opportunity to keep European countries strong, free, and in line with the United States. That’s what my country wants.”
A well-funded, action-oriented Three Seas Initiative, he said, would help achieve all of these shared goals.
In February, Pompeo announced in Munich that the United States would provide up to $1 billion in funding for Three Seas Initiative infrastructure projects through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
Pompeo praised the Three Seas Initiative’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and financial sustainability in public infrastructure.
Launched by Poland and Croatia in 2015, the Initiative aims to promote dialogue and develop the region’s relatively weak infrastructure and economic prosperity through a north-south connection between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. The 12 EU member states participating in the initiative include Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.
President Trump attended the initiative’s second summit in Warsaw in July 2017.
The “Three Seas Initiative” has great potential. Its member states account for 28% of the EU’s territory and 22% of its population, but contribute only 10% of the EU’s GDP. Prior to the neo-coronavirus pandemic, they had the highest economic growth rate in the EU, nearly 3.5%, compared to the EU average of 2.1%.
In addition to using the initiative to pursue U.S. economic interests in Europe, Pompeo sees it as a powerful tool for the U.S. and Europe to work together against China and Russia.
He said, “Right now, as we sit here, authoritarian governments in Moscow and Beijing are using infrastructure deals as bait as a way to gain strategic and political influence over free peoples. We saw this with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project (Nord Stream 2). From Laos to the Republic of Montenegro to Pakistan, we see the crushing impact of China’s global infrastructure deals.”
“Nord Stream 2 is a new gas export pipeline from Russia to Europe across the Baltic Sea.
When the Three Seas Initiative was first established, China’s influence in Europe was not that strong. Pompeo said the initiative is much more important than when it was created five years ago.
“The United States does not want to see authoritarian forces again undermine the sovereignty or freedom of our friends of the free world,” he said.
In his remarks, the U.S. chief diplomat again urged European countries not to use Chinese telecommunications providers.
In terms of security, the Chinese Communist Party is waiting to suck up your data,” he said. We have to work to remove unreliable suppliers from our vital telecommunications, energy and transportation networks.”
A key mission of Pompeo’s visit to Europe in August was to lobby European countries to keep Chinese telecom giant Huawei out of the 5G network. He said recently that more than 40 countries have joined the U.S. Clean Networks Initiative.
Mr. Pompeo also spoke Monday at the U.S.-Brazil Connectivity Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The two countries have just concluded a trade agreement.
Pompeo stressed the importance of Brazil for the United States to build closer ties with countries in the Western Hemisphere and South America.
At the summit, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro emphasized that the relationship between the United States and Brazil has never been stronger.
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