The Republic of Moldova obtained, alongside Ukraine, the status of associated participating state of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI). The decision was taken by the 12 participating states at the eighth 3SI Summit held in Bucharest. The event involved Moldova’s President Maia Sandu, IPN reports.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that Romania is the first 3SI participating state that hosts the summit for the second time, after the first summit it held successfully in 2018. The important decisions adopted at the Bucharest Summit of the Three Seas Initiative on Wednesday will contribute to further strengthening the cross-border interconnections of the member countries through transport, energy and digitization.

“Today we concluded a successful summit, at which we adopted important decisions concerning both the future directions of action and the necessary orientations in the new geopolitical context, as well as the practical instruments, including financial ones, of the initiative,” Iohannis told a joint press conference after the summit, together with his Polish and Lithuanian counterparts Andrzej Duda and Gitanas Nausėda and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Iohannis said that Greece became the 3SI’s 13th member state, and Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova became associated states. He said that the 2SI’s two permanent objectives were reconfirmed during the summit: reducing the development gaps between the Three Seas region (Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea) and the rest of the European Union by strengthening cohesion within the EU, enhancing the 3SI’s regional contribution in the process of strengthening transatlantic ties.

The joint declaration adopted at the summit resolutely condemns Russia’s wrongful and irresponsible acts, which put European and global security and stability in jeopardy while undermining the rules-based international order, and denounces the systematic hybrid pressures the Republic of Moldova is faced with in the context of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, including attempts to undermine the constitutional order and virulent destabilizing actions perpetrated by the Russian Federation.

“We also recognize the efforts of the Republic of Moldova in withstanding increasing pressure in a dramatically altered geopolitical and geo-economic reality and welcome this country as an associated participating state to the 3SI, together with Ukraine, and look forward to strengthening and diversifying our cooperation on joint projects to promote strategic interconnection in the 3SI region and with the Eastern European neighborhood and thus facilitate their integration with the EU. We also welcome the granting of the EU candidate status to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. We acknowledge Ukraine’s and the Republic of Moldova’s commitment and substantial efforts to meet the required conditions in their EU accession process and we encourage both countries to continue on their path of reforms, including based on the recommendations of the Venice Commission. We will continue to support these countries on their accession path into the EU,” reads the declaration.

The 12 participating states of the Three Seas Initiative are: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.