Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen traveled to Riga for a solidarity rally in Ukraine. In addition, other European heads of state and EU politicians are also taking part in the meeting. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, addressed the participants via video on Monday afternoon at the start. He expressed interest in joining the Three Seas Initiative.
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is currently in the Latvian capital. His participation in the Ukraine Solidarity Summit is intended, among other things, to support the Central-Eastern European states, which fear they could still be the target of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We will not allow ourselves to be divided and we will do everything we can to end the Russian war of aggression as soon as possible and restore peace,” said Van der Bellen. In these troubled times, when the horror of war has returned to Europe, we stand together.
Video messages from Zelenskyj and Blinken
At the beginning of the meeting on Monday afternoon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were heard via video message. Blinken said the war has made the goals of the Three Seas Initiative “even more urgent”. For example, better roads are needed to get grain exports out of the country. The said initiative is a coalition of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria are also the only non-NATO states. The Three Seas Initiative was launched in 2014 and aims to strengthen the transport and energy infrastructure in the region. An example is the construction of liquefied gas terminals in Poland and Croatia.
Ukraine wants Three Seas Initiative
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has now expressed an interest in joining. “The states of the Three Seas Initiative connect us to the rest of the world,” Zelenskyj said in his live speech. For example, Ukraine could become a transport hub for the region, stretching from the Baltic States to the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea. Examples are the railway line between Warsaw and Kiev and the north-south highway “Via Carpathia”. Latvian President Egils Levits has already described Ukraine as a “partner”. Germany, whose president Frank-Walter Steinmeier also attends the summit, has a similar status.
Van der Bellen has planned talks with the presidents of Poland, Estonia and Bulgaria on Monday afternoon. In addition, according to the President’s Office, there will be short meetings with the Latvian host and Steinmeier.
Source: Krone
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