This Is How Europe Can Push Back Against China and Russia
A huge infrastructure project by 12 eastern EU states is an obvious geopolitical opportunity.
U.S. LNG showing up in a Polish terminal, with no Russian pipeline in sight.
Photographer: Bloomberg
The most important geopolitical project you’ve never heard of is called the Three Seas Initiative. It’s a joint endeavor by 12 eastern members of the European Union to update the physical and digital links between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. That makes good sense in its own right. But the kicker is that this undertaking may be Europe’s best answer to the encroachments of Russia and China.
The initiative was dreamed up by Croatia and Poland in 2015. It then encompassed all the other EU member states that used to be behind the Iron Curtain, plus Austria. Though economically vibrant, most of this region still lags the rest of the bloc in infrastructure. Travel by road and rail takes two to four times longer on average than in the rest of the EU.