site.btaPresident Radev Calls for Three Seas Initiative to Leave Political Sphere, Head for Concrete Solutions

June 5 (BTA Special Correspondent Assen Boyadjiev) -
The Three Seas Initiative has begun to leave the sphere of pure
political talk and to acquire more concrete dimensions with the
idea about the establishment of an investment fund, President
Rumen Radev told journalists Wednesday. Radev is taking part in
the Fourth Three Seas Initiative Summit in Ljubljana.

The Three Seas Initiative is a flexible political platform at
presidential level, launched in 2015. The Initiative includes
the 12 EU Member States located between the Adriatic, the Baltic
 and the Black seas: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia and Slovenia.  The aim is to follow a list of priority
interconnection projects.

Radev appealed to all participants to leave the sphere of
politics and relocate to economy and concrete solutions.

There are clearly outlined priorities in close coordination with
 the Bulgarian government, the President said, taking a question
 about the projects under the initiative. He was particularly
insistent on the 'Via Carpathia' project because it is aimed to
connect the countries from Lithuania to Greece through Bulgaria.
 If successful, it will resolve the problem of the 160 km
motorway needed between Vidin and Sofia, he commented.

Radev heads a delegation including Economy Minister Emil
Karanikolov, as well as Bulgarian businessmen participating in
an economic forum on the sidelines of the summit in Ljubljana.

* * *

Bulgarian Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov opened a business
forum on innovations held as part of the Three Seas Initiative
Summit in Ljubljana, Karanikolov's Ministry said in a press
release on Wednesday.

Sixteen Bulgarian companies and businesses from the Baltic,
Black Sea and Adriatic region participated in the event.

In his opening address Karanikolov said that the challenges in
the region of the three seas, such as fast technological changes
 resulting in abrupt changes in the economic relations, and the
barriers to business development, require active work and joint
policies that come closer to the daily problems of business
people and researchers.

Karanikolov said that the region has maintained a pace of
economic development above the global level and has acted as a
hub for many European productions. He noted the importance of
the leading role of the policies on innovations and
technologies, which he argued will help the region maintain its
competitive position among the other European countries.
RY/BR,ZH