The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) has the potential of a main foreign policy instrument of Kiev, considers Constantin Eggert, an expert quoted by Deutsche Welle in the context of the recent meeting held in Vilnius, which was attended for the first time by the Republic of Moldova as an associate partner of this international arrangement, IPN reports, with reference to Latvian radio and television.
In his speech in the Baltic capital, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that the Republic of Moldova is willing to contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine. And it is important to strengthen the efforts, resources and expertise of states to overcome the challenges in this regard. “By investing in cooperation and capitalizing on our common interests in infrastructure, energy and digitalization, we can build a developed and strong region in which all nations will prosper,” Premier Recean stated in the meeting of the association set up to develop transport, infrastructure and energy infrastructure of the participating countries.
In addition, Constantin Eggert believes that the realities of the Russian invasion of Ukraine attribute characteristics of an economic club to support NATO’s Eastern flank to the Three Seas Initiative. The essence of most of the Initiative’s projects is maximum distancing and independence from Russia. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many of them have taken on military significance. For example, the long-delayed Rail Baltica high-speed trains from Tallinn to Warsaw, designed to definitively end the Soviet railway legacy in the Baltic countries, literally “came to life” after becoming one of the priorities of the Three Seas Initiative. In the future, the bases of the NATO Allies in the Baltic region are expected to be supplied along this route.
The expert forecasts that to the south, Ukraine that is at war and Moldova that is under the permanent threat of Russian intervention, in the near future can attract the attention of the Black Sea participants. This overlaps with NATO’s interest in the region, but also with the interest of Kiev, which could use the situation to achieve its own interests.
In essence, current Moldova’s sovereignty can only be guaranteed by two neighboring countries - Ukraine and Romania, says Constantin Eggert. But the Romanian leadership’s reluctance to come into conflict with Moscow is understandable: in Bucharest they fear that the clash could generate a confrontation between Russia and NATO. For Ukraine, however, the emergence of a Russian bridgehead in Gagauzia, for example, would place Odessa under direct threat.
In this regard, the expert emphasizes that it is in Ukraine’s national interest to provide maximum political support to Moldova, including through the bodies of the Three Seas Initiative. President Maia Sandu understands this. She wasn’t in Vilnius, but urged the West to supply Ukraine with a “large number"”of air defense systems, the source concluded.
