The idea of creating a Parliamentary Assembly of the Three Seas, which can become a solid foundation for our cooperation

Informatiion Department
Published on 21 June 2022, at 20:38

Ukraine considers cooperation in the format of the Three Seas Initiative as an integral and applied component of Ukraine's integration into the European political, economic, energy, security, and humanitarian space, – Deputy Chairwoman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk.

Without Ukraine, it is impossible to imagine the full development of the Three Seas! This was my message to the participants of the second day of the Three Seas Initiative summit in Riga.

I share the opinion of the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, who recently stated that "the Three Seas Initiative is impossible without the involvement of a free and sovereign Ukraine." "Ukraine is now fighting for its sovereignty, but in a broad sense – for the sovereignty of the Three Seas states," said Mateusz Morawiecki.

Without Ukraine, the architecture of the Three Seas will be incomplete. We are a great Black Sea state. The length of the Ukrainian Black Sea coastline is 1,540 kilometers, which is almost half of its total length. Ukraine’s presence in the Three Seas completes both the interregional and European architecture of security, transport, and energy infrastructure.

What can be our contribution to the development of the Three Seas?

Ukraine is a guarantor of food security, transport, and energy corridors from North to South.

It is a large-scale North-South gas corridor, which Ukraine's capabilities can strengthen. Ukraine has some of the largest underground gas storage facilities and the most extensive system of transportation and distribution of natural gas.

Ukraine’s gas transportation and storage infrastructure has a huge surplus of capacity, connected to the neighboring 3SI member states – Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland – and can meet the needs of all the countries of the Three Seas.

It is in Ukraine that a gas hub can be created, which will be connected to the mentioned corridor by the Ukraine-Poland interconnector.

This is the creation of the main trans-European corridor VIA CARPATHIA. In this project, Ukraine can play the role of a logistics center, connecting the northern and southern parts of Europe.

We are interested in implementing the Rail Baltica project, part of which should be a high-speed railway line Warsaw Kyiv.

The freight corridor between Lithuania and Ukraine Viking Train is promising.

Ukraine is able to provide support to many digital infrastructure projects and make a significant contribution to the field of financial technologies, such as the Digital Europe Program, Life Program, and Single Market Program.

Ukraine has gained real experience in the field of cybersecurity. Together with the 3SI Member States (especially the Baltic States), we have and can share unique knowledge in the fight against cyber threats.

Ukraine has the most experienced and capable army in Europe, which can significantly strengthen the security of the Mediterranean and the entire European Union.

Ukraine is interested in cultural exchanges and joint counteraction to russian humanitarian aggression.

At the same time, the Three Seas can play a major role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

Therefore, she appealed to the leaders of the 12 EU member states of the Three Seas to consider granting Ukraine the status of a full member of the Three Seas Initiative.

In the last two months, I have personally visited most of the countries of the Three Seas. As a supporter of parliamentarism and parliamentary diplomacy, I believe that national parliaments should be actively involved in developing the Three Seas Initiative.

I brought to the attention of the Summit the idea of ??creating a Parliamentary Assembly of the Three Seas, which can become a solid foundation for our cooperation.

The war in Europe will end when we work together to stop putin. Ukraine needs offensive weapons. We need peace. We need Victory! Only Victory will make Europe truly free, strong, and self-sufficient.