Redefining Relations between the EU and the USA: The Role of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI)

The main aim of the paper is to discuss the role of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) in redefining relations between the EU and the USA. At present, the strained transatlantic relations are a serious challenge for the EU. The 3SI was founded in 2016 by 12 European Union’s member states situated between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. Their cooperation is focused on the development of transport, energy and digital infrastructure. The maim aims of the 3SI, as declared in Bucharest declaration in 2018, include strengthening the cohesion of the European Union and enriching the transatlantic ties. The state of relations between the EU and the USA is of crucial importance for Central and Eastern Europe, especially in the face of the challenges resulting from the global order changes. At the same time, critics consider the 3SI as an attempt to divide the European Union and to balance against Germany and France within the EU. Especially the authorities of Poland and Hungary have been accused of seeking to build a Central European group under the patronage of the United States as a counterbalance to Germany's influence in this region. No high-level EU representatives attended the 3SI summit in 2016 or 2017. The European Commission’s attitude changed it 2018, when the president of the European Commission J. C. Junckers at Bucharest summit emphasized that the 3SI is completing the work which the European Union as such is trying to do. Germany also changed their policy towards TSI, declaring its will to join the initiative. USA supported the 3SI from the onset. What role does the Three Seas Initiative play in the relations between the EU and the USA? Does it contribute to strengthening the cohesion of the European Union and enriching the transatlantic ties, as it declares, or is it rather an internal challenge to the European integration?