On 12-13 March 2025, the fifth edition of the 3Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum was held. With an attendance of 1,500 people from 29 countries, including delegations and heads of regions, it provided an opportunity to discuss important issues such as transport, energy, digitalization, international relations (particularly inter- and transregional), science, and education. In addition to the discussions, several significant decisions were announced regarding the evolution of the Three Seas Initiative. Moreover, over the last few months and years, some of the previous pillars of the 3SI soft power cooperation have undergone significant development. The other ones have emerged, which were initiated by different states.
1. Towards the evolution of the Three Seas. What was decided?
While the 5th 3Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum was held, several decisions were made regarding the 3SI soft power dimension. Table 1 below outlines the six actions that were announced at that time.
Table 1. The progress in the evolving soft power dimension of the Three Seas Initiative following the 5th edition of the 3Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum, as announced by decisions, fields of cooperation, and their aims.
Sources:
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Agenda 2025 Day 1.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/agenda-2025-day-1/];
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Agenda 2025 Day 2.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/agenda-2025-day-2/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Second Day of the Three Seas Local Government Congress.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/second-day-of-the-three-seas-local-government-congress/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Summary of the 1st Day of the Three Seas Local Government Congress.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/summary-of-the-1st-day-of-the-three-seas-local-government-congress/].
As for the previously existing tools of the soft power collaboration, the table below presents their current status after the mentioned event in Lublin, with the division into the concrete networks, their fields, and the number of their members (overall and divided into the particular states).
Table 2. The status of the previously existing instruments of the 3SI soft power by their fields, the number of their entities, and the countries of origin (with their number division).
Sources:
Bulgaria News Agency. “Bulgaria and Poland Establish New Network for Tourism Cooperation within Three Seas.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://www.bta.bg/en/news/economy/852021-bulgaria-and-poland-establish-new-network-for-tourism-cooperation-within-three-s].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Summary of the 1st Day of the Three Seas Local Government Congress.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/summary-of-the-1st-day-of-the-three-seas-local-government-congress/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Three Seas Network.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3seasnetwork.lubelskie.pl/](https://3seasnetwork.lubelskie.pl/].
Three Seas University Network. “Member Universities.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3sun.kul.pl/en/member-universities/](https://3sun.kul.pl/en/member-universities/].
Three Seas University Network. “New Member Universities of the Three Seas University Network.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3sun.kul.pl/en/news/new-member-universities-of-the-three-seas-university-network/)].
Three Seas Initiative. “Perspectives of Business Development in the Three Seas Region.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.3seas.eu/event/side-events-1/perspectives-of-business-development-in-the-three-seas-region].
1.1 Tourism. Three Seas Tourism Network as a new tool for the sophisticated form of the 3SI collaboration
During the Opening Session (Three Seas Initiative – summary of the 10th anniversary and the future of the format) of the 3Seas Local Government Congress, one of the announced decisions was the creation of the Three Seas Tourism Network by the initiative of Poland and Bulgaria. In this matter, the Declaration on the establishment of this tool was signed by the Lubelskie Voivodeship, the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Lublin Regional Tourism Organisation, and the Union of the Bulgarian Black Seas Local Authorities. Its objective is to promote tourism in the 3SI area, strengthening the regional brands, helping create the common regional tourism products, and creating a joint and cohesive tourist offer for the region, using the EU funds and other financial instruments for implementing these aims. Furthermore, the Network will support developing cultural and ecological tourism and promote the exchange of good practices. Touristic collaboration within the newly established could also be based on the digitalization of the sectoral services. As to the Marshal of the Lubelskie Voivodeship, Jarosław Stawiarski, and his opening speech during the event, he said that the efforts towards expanding the collaboration this year to new areas are continued. Moreover, he mentioned that this developed cooperation will be implemented by mutual recognition of historical heritage within the partnerships between open-air museums from Central Europe and the setting up of the Three Seas Tourism Network. In turn, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Irena Georgieva, remarked then that the 3SI format is key for the touristic deployment due to the better connectivity, investing in infrastructure, and conducting modern market strategies. She also added that Bulgaria will further take active actions to make the region attractive for tourism.
1.2 Regions. The local governments within the Three Seas Regions Network
According to the earlier functioning of 3SI Networks within the soft power collaboration, some of the crucial decisions taken at the event concerned the Three Seas regional aspect. During the inauguration, the official joining of the Ștefan Vodă region in Moldova was announced. Due to this decision, the 3Seas Regions Network enlarged to 28 local entities from 8 states, with the first one from Moldova as a 3SI participating country at once.
Furthermore, the signing of the Declaration on Partnership and Cooperation of the Members of the Network of the Three Seas Regions for supporting the preparation and construction of the international transport corridor Via Carpatia was another significant step for enhancing the 3SI region dimension. Owing to this action, other previously non-participating local governments became the following states that committed to constructing Via Carpatia and undertaking or developing the 3SI local governmental partnership for developing the mentioned route. Thereby, these entities joined other regions in the international cooperation in favor of building Via Carpatia, such as the Lubelskie and Podkarpackie Voivodeships in Poland and the Prešov region in Slovakia, which signed a similar agreement in December 2024 in Brussels.
On the second day of the 3Seas Local Government Congress, precisely after the second panel within the international session[1], the agreements between the Lubelskie Voivodeship and the Khmelnytskyi Oblast in Ukraine were signed. Formerly, these two local entities concluded a letter of intent between each other in December 2023. Apart from them, six other local governments signed similar agreements with each other – the Hrubieszów Municipality in Poland with the Zhvanetska Territorial Community in Ukraine, the Kraśnik Municipality with the Narkevytska Territorial Community, and the Tarnawatka Municipality with the Krupetska Territorial Community, which were also represented at the event. These bilateral forms of cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian local autonomies will even gather some or all of them in one format. This combined form of collaboration intends to create partnerships, getting to know the partner local entities, wider discuss the important issues and problems concerning their local governments, and perhaps solve them in the following steps.
1.3 Science and Education. The Case of the Three Seas University Network
In the case of science and education within the Three Seas Initiative, it is the following third field where some concrete actions towards its evolution were undertaken during the Congress and Economic Forum in Lublin. The Three Seas University Network was expanded from 16 to 18 member universities, including the Metropolitan University Prague from Czechia and the Sulkan-Saba Orbeliani University from Georgia.
Additionally, at the beginning of the scientific session on the second day of the 3Seas Local Government Congress, the collaboration agreement between the Lubelskie Voivodeship and the Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School (Szkoła Główna Mikołaja Kopernika, SGMK) was signed. This form of partnership aims at the realization of the scientific, educational, and research and development (R&D) initiatives, with the focus on the mental and physical conditions of students and teachers. This platform between the Lubelskie Voivodeship and the SGMK also assumes to promote patriotic attitudes and take care of the common good. The Lubelskie Voivodeship joined the Board of Stakeholders of the Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School at once. Besides, the mentioned University has to support educational activities conducted by the Lubelskie Voivodeship, particularly in social and civic education, sustainable development undertakings, and ensuring and improving the mental state of students and teachers. In turn, the referred local government is to keep up the School in the implementation of the educational projects directed to the education and labour market, and the schools from the Lubelskie Voivodeship too.
1.4 Culture. The placement of the Three Seas Cultural Cooperation Network
Within the international session of the Lublin Congress, two debates on culture were organized. In the first of them[2], Prof. Łukasz Murzyn from the University of the National Education Commission in Cracow (Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej, UKEN) and the President of the Three Seas Art Foundation participated, with Łukasz Smółka (Marshall of the Małopolskie Voivodeship), Katarzyna Sołek (Secretary General of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship), and Andriy Smorodin, that is the President of the National Platform Three Seas Initiative-Ukraine. This panel was devoted to the significance of culture in promoting the region, mainly through collaboration with local municipalities, institutions, administrations, and businesses. Then, the experts giving their speeches introduce their ideas of culture promotion by institutions to appeal to young people.
With the participation of Prof. Łukasz Murzyn, who is deeply engaged in the development of the cultural dimension of the Three Seas, and the broader discussions during this year’s edition of the annual 3Seas Local Government Congress, culture was more signed in this event than ever. This field could be even more important due to the first and upcoming Three Seas Art Festival 2025, primarily held by Three Seas Art Foundation, whose President is Prof. Łukasz Murzyn. This 3SI cultural festival will be organized in the biennale formula (which ordinarily takes place in every 2 or 3 years and consists of a lot of events) by this non-governmental organization and another 15 ones from the 3SI region (from Austria, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuaniua, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine) and France. The Three Seas Art Festival will include several meetings, exhibitions, workshops, and discussion panels. It will also gather almost 100 artists and curators from 13 3SI member states and Ukraine, and the representatives of the citizen society from Belarus. By cooperating and using the art-based research method, they will discuss the leading topic of the first Three Seas Art Festival, namely, various models of fair development seen from the perspectives of artists. The smaller cultural events, such as the exhibitions held in April and May within the Festival, will take place in different cultural institutions in Kraków in Poland. The main exhibition is to be held in the Contemporary Art Gallery Art Bunquer and last from the 14th of May to the 31st of August 2025. The effects of the work of artists participating in the residency will be presented in this event. Within the Art Festival, the international conference will take place on 15th May 2025 in the International Culture Centre in Kraków. The whole initiative is implemented due to the financial support from the International Visegrad Fund within the “Smart Power of Culture – Challenges of a Common V4 Identity vs. the Three Seas Perspective” project, and the „Excellence Initiative – Research University” program of the University of the National Education Commission.
Also, the first stage of this biennale event took place between the 9th and 24th of February 2025. In that time, the discussions, common explorations, and works in the cultural places in Cracow between artists and curators were held. The artists participating in the residency had opportunities to present their ideas in their works to the local people. What is emphasized in the Three Seas Art Festival site, referring to this stage of the event, the workshop enabled to notice diverse ways of defining arts-based research and art created using techniques, methodologies, and technologies from various fields of contemporary science. It was also mentioned that this session also ensured to note the developed ideas by the international teams engaged in the initiative.
2. Three Seas+ area: the inter-governmental and parliamentary aspects of the 3SI+ soft power and Ukraine’s involvement
Estonia, during its presidency within the Three Seas format in 2020, intended to enhance the intergovernmental cooperation in the 3SI area. In this way and to maintain the dynamics of this collaboration, on 3rd June 2021, Estonia organized the First Three Seas Parliamentary Forum virtually. Mr. Jüri Ratas, the President of the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu, was the host of it and Mr. Neeme Raud, an Estonian journalist, moderated the event. Apart from these two participants, 9 members of the national parliaments from other Three Seas states also participated in the Forum – 1 from Czechia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, and 2 from Slovenia and Romania. This initiative undertaken by the Estonian side allowed to reaffirmed the states’ engagement in the 3SI format and discussed further parliamentary collaboration within it. In the future, the Forum could enable to rethink of the potential role of the parliaments in developing the Three Seas Initiative and to ensure the dialogue between the parliamentary side and the citizens and stakeholders. On 20-21 June 2022, in Riga (within the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum), the Latvian Parliament Saeima arranged the Second Three Seas Parliamentary Forum. It covered three panels devoted to deploying the infrastructure in the 3SI region. Besides the Latvian side, also the higher parliamentary members from 10 member states, and participating countries (Ukraine), strategic partners (United States), and some other states potentially interested in closer cooperation with the 3SI (Moldova, Georgia, Japan, Canada, South Korea), participated in the Forum. In the next years, the Three Seas Parliamentary Forum was not held.
Due to the increased interest in cooperation and the concrete steps taken towards strengthening relations between the Three Seas Initiative and Ukraine in recent years, it is worthwhile to examine the engagement of the Ukrainian side within the 3SI format. This issue is more important due to the growing representation of Ukraine in the annual 3Seas Local Government Congress Business Forum and the Three Seas Business Forum, and the decisions taken there too. During the 3SI Summit in Riga, Latvia, in 2022, Ukraine obtained the participating state status within the Three Seas, which enabled it to be more involved in the 3SI projects within the list of flagship investments and other peculiar pillars of the format. Despite Ukraine is not a member of the Three Seas Initiative, which results in partially limited country’s decision-making and taken actions, its involvement within the 3SI instruments and grassroots initiatives is huge. Moreover, Ukraine tends to promote its unique ideas and actions that have previously been taken to enhance the Three Seas. One of them, related to the 3SI soft power, is the parliamentary dimension. At the breakthrough of 2023 and 2024, the Inter-Factional Parliamentary Group “Three Seas Initiative — Ukraine” and the National Platform “Three Seas Initiative — Ukraine” were created. The first-mentioned entity was established on the 16th January 2024 with the initiative of 23 Ukrainian Members of Parliament (MPs) with Yuriy Kamelczuk as the Chairman of this parliamentary group (who belongs to the Sluga Narodu Party – Servant of the People Party and is a member of the Delegation of Ukraine to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)). The second platform was appointed on the 29th December 2023, and Andriy Smorodin (the Honorary Professor and a Member of the Supervisory Board at the East Ukrainian National University) became its Chairman. Both of these initiatives aim to support the cooperation between Ukraine and the Three Seas Initiative, particularly promoting infrastructural projects and other economic ones, as well the undertakings in other aspects like politics, civil society, culture, education, science, and business[3]. To ensure the bigger activity and coordination of the Inter-Factional Parliamentary Group with various communities and the Platform, an executive office and secretariat are being created under the chairmanship of Andriy Smorodin. As it was emphasized by the Chairman of the National Platform, this entity is to ensure a unique system of coordination of national interactions. Previously, some meetings of the parliamentary association under consideration took place. At one of them on 30th January 2025, at the anniversary of the appointment of the Inter-Factional Parliamentary Group Three Seas Initiative – Ukraine and the National Platform, the previous achievements from 2024, with the plans for 2025, were highlighted. Additionally, Yuriy Kamelchuk underlined the necessity of continuing the efforts in the deployment of the Three Seas with the enhancement of the partnerships between the participating countries and ensuring the coordination among all sectors of power in Ukraine. Member of the Verkhovna Rada and Head of the Ukrainian Section of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee Vadym Halaichuk stressed the significance of developing parliamentary diplomacy to make Ukraine’s position within the 3SI stronger and intensify the partnership with the newly established Three Seas Initiative Group in the European Parliament. Especially, the Platform stands out from the great activity which is seen on its social media, where this organization frequently shares posts from events connected to the Three Seas and other formats of the cooperation in widely understood Central Europe, with their representatives participating in them. It occurred through the active participation in the following 3SI events from the moment of its establishment. Then, the representatives of this entity were regularly represented twice (in 2024 and 2025) at the 3Seas Local Government Congress Economic Forum[4], Three Seas Summit, and the 3SI conferences[5], and gave their speeches during the particular panels. With regard to the collaboration with different organizations to develop Ukraine’s participation in the Three Seas format, the representatives of the Platform often meet with the national entities, and diplomatic and political ones from the 3SI states active in Ukraine, like with the Embassy of Poland in Kyiv which the Platform regularly cooperates. In the meetings where 3SI-UA Platform is represented, their representatives, particularly with the leadership of Andriy Smorodin, introduce Ukraine’s attitude towards the deployment of cooperation with and within the 3SI format which concerns various matters such as, among others, transport, energy and digital infrastructure, economic collaboration, sustainable development of environment, security, defense, society and culture. Regarding the concrete declarations for the development of the cooperation, realized mainly with other national organizations in Ukraine towards the strengthening of its ties with the Three Seas, the Platform signed two memoranda of understanding. The first one was made in May 2024 with the Ministry of Chernivtsi City Council in the engagement in the issues covered in the 3SI priorities related to the infrastructure development, investments, international, science and technology cooperation, and the works on the concrete projects. In this context, in the post of the Three Seas Initiative Ukraine Platform, the significance of the cooperation with Romania, Moldova, and other Black Sea – Adriatic states was emphasized. The second one was the memorandum signed with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in June 2024, on their partnership to develop scientific cooperation, which should allow Ukraine to realize its aims, making it closer to the Three Seas and the European Union. It assumes the expansion of the international opportunities of Ukrainian science and scientists, deploying innovative technologies and opening scientific offices.
3. The potential for the next-next 3SI soft power dimension
The first Economic Forum in 2022 was an accompanying event with the second 3Seas Local Government Congress, and for that moment, it is organized annually. Its main aims are to promote the offer of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the Lubelskie Voivodeship, create conditions for the deployment of entrepreneurship and investor service, and deepen the advanced forms of international collaboration related to the enterprise sector. At the last edition of the Economic Forum, seven events regarding entrepreneurship took place, which among others concerned the involvement of the Lubelskie Voivodeship in the World Exhibition EXPO 2025 in Osaka, the prospects for the regional companies’ development on the global market, and the Lubelskie women’s business activities. Besides the accompaniment with the great event such as the 3Seas Local Government Congress, the gathering and common discussions of the representatives from diverse branches (enterprise, governmental agencies like PAIH, science and academia, local public institutions and local governments). Furthermore, discussing the development of small and medium firms and prospects for this process, among others, within the development of the 3SI investments, is also an asset of the Economic Forum. On the other hand, despite the opportunities it creates, the Economic Forum and the concomitant Local Government Congress are not signed in the organization and the development of the annual Three Seas Summit and Business Forum. For the first time, it appears on the official 3SI site a few weeks before the Three Seas primary event at the end of April 2025.
The other 3SI flagship tool in its business dimension is the Three Seas Business Forum, which is an integral part of the annual Three Seas Summit, held every year since 2018, starting during the event in Bucharest, Romania. The mentioned 3SI business event is based on the conducted panel discussions about the current economic challenges for the 3SI region, the cohesion with the EU, and the integration with the associate participating states, such as Ukraine and Moldova. This time, the attention on the event is primarily paid to the attendance and speeches of the heads of state and other national high representatives (such as Prime Ministers). Apart from the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum in 2018, the second one was also held in Bucharest in 2023, which ought to be considered highly important regarding the 3SI business aspect. Specifically, at that Summit, the Three Seas Business Development Association (TSBDA) was established on the initiative of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Estonia. It has to stand up for the interests of entrepreneurs and employers from the 3SI area. However, apart from its genesis of creation, its location in Brussels, and holding the side event within the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum in Vilnius in 2024, no further information about the TSBDA is known.
4. Conclusions
To conclude, during the 5th edition of the 3Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum, six decisions concerning the evolution of the soft power dimension of the Three Seas Initiative were undertaken. One of the most noticeable ones was the signing of the Declaration on the establishment of the Three Seas Tourism Network, with the initiative of Poland and Bulgaria. In connection with it, the 3SI soft power cooperation was extended by the touristic aspect. The new network is to support the development of the touristic collaboration in the Three Seas region through the development of cultural and ecological tourism aspects, promoting the good practices in the sector, and helping in creating 3SI common touristic products.
The rest five settlements are devoted to the previously existing Three Seas soft power pillars, namely the Three Seas Regions Network and the Three Seas Universities Network. Three decisions are related to the regional aspect of the 3SI soft power, with the extension of the partnership with one local government from Moldova (participating country to the Three Seas which joined the Network) to 28 entities and signing of the Declaration on Partnership and Cooperation of the Members of the Network of the Three Seas Regions for supporting the preparation and construction of the international transport corridor Via Carpatia, and signing of agreements between the municipalities from the Lubelskie Voivodeship in Poland and Khmelnytskyi Oblast in Ukraine. With the second-mentioned settlement, these local entities followed the other three Polish and three Ukrainian municipalities that settled similar agreements on the cross-border partnership. These forms of collaboration intend to get to know better the partner municipalities and the broader discussion, and solve the local government problems.
Regarding the scientific and educational dimensions of the 3SI soft power, the Three Seas University Network has expanded to 18 members, with the addition of Metropolitan University Prague from the Czech Republic and the Sulkan-Saba Orbeliani University from Georgia. What is more, the cooperation agreement between the Lubelskie Voivodeship and the Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School (SGMK) was signed. In this regard, both of these entities are to collaborate to implement scientific, educational, and research and development (R&D) projects. They, among others, are to include social and civic education, sustainable development, labour, and the mental and physical conditions of students and teachers.
The cultural aspect within the 3SI format began to be more visible due to the increase in discussions about the culture during the last 3Seas Local Government Congress in Lublin and the holding of the Three Seas Art Festival in 2025. Primarily, the second-mentioned event deserves for bigger attention, because of its first edition this year and its complexity. The 3SI cultural festival is held in the biennale formula for a few months every 2 or 3 years, and includes many cultural events (like meetings, exhibitions, workshops, and panel discussions), and a lot of artists and curators from various 3SI countries and Ukraine. This initiative, organized within the Three Seas Cultural Cooperation Network and the Three Seas Art Foundation, enables to gathering of various artists from the 3SI region and its surroundings, and builds awareness of one another’s cultures, and the cultural dialogue and exchange too.
Another 3SI soft power dimension concerns the inter-governmental and parliamentary collaboration between the Three Seas states and Ukraine. One of these projects is the Three Seas Parliamentary Forum, which was first organized virtually in 2021 in Tallinn and in Riga in 2022. This undertaking, initiated by Estonia during its chairmanship within the 3SI, is to boost the cooperation between the governments and the members of parliament from the region (mainly with higher represented MPs). Moreover, it could strengthen the dialogue between the parliaments, citizens, and stakeholders in diverse states in the Three Seas area. On the other hand, despite some interest in the Forum (not only in the region but also within some external partners), it did not take place in the following years. The other 3SI intergovernmental and parliamentary projects were initiated by Ukraine at the breakthrough of 2023 and 2024, namely the Inter-Factional Parliamentary Group “Three Seas Initiative — Ukraine” and the National Platform “Three Seas Initiative — Ukraine”. They aim to tighten the collaboration between Ukraine and the Three Seas in different aspects (infrastructure, civil society, culture, education and science, and business). The parliamentary platform is to increase the communication, interest and partnership within the Ukrainian parliament and the national one, put the emphasis more on building the dialogue with the entities from the 3SI area (like political, diplomatic, and business ones), representing Ukraine’s attitude towards the format and arranging some international undertakings. The 3SI Inter-Factional Parliamentary Group and the Three Seas Initiative – Ukraine National Platform could work more intensively because of the creation of the office and secretariat responsible for the coordination of their work and facilitating contact with different communities.
The further development of the business dimension of the Three Seas Initiative is possible due to organizing the Three Seas Business Forum (integrally with the Three Seas Summit) and the Economic Forum devoted (with the accompaniment of the 3Seas Local Government Congress in Lublin) every year. Both of these events have been holding per year since their establishment in 2018 and 2022, respectively, and they consist of several panel discussions related to the broadly understood economic cooperation in the 3SI region. Even though both initiatives have some similarities (like discussions about the current processes and challenges for the Three Seas among the experts, entrepreneurs, politicians, and other policymakers), the Three Seas Business Forum has a more formal character. It brings together the presidents, prime ministers, ministers, and other representatives on higher levels on a higher level than the Economic Forum, which is focused more on the local and regional municipalities. What is more, the presidential panel is an integral part of the Three Seas Business Forum that sets the cooperation directions and visions between the different 3SI states more directly. The third undertaking within the business field of the Three Seas Initiative is the Three Seas Business Development Association (TSBDA), appointed during the Three Seas Summit in 2023 in Bucharest by Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Estonia. Although it was created to enhance the cooperation between the company owners and employers from the region by several 3SI states, it has not been developed.
Table 3. The updated summary[6] of the soft-power forms of cooperation within the Three Seas, organised by platform name, field, short characteristics, and aims
5. Final recommendations
Most of the above 3SI pillars and their concrete platforms (also newly mentioned ones) struggle with the same difficulties, such as insufficient or lack institutionalization, incoordination of the deployment, and limited knowledge about the format and its potential positive influence. Additionally, their functioning and development are mainly seen in the event-to-event formula, in every event related to them. Even though, among others, the Three Seas Cultural Cooperation Network has developed significantly from its appointment (with its signing in this year’s 3Seas Local Government Congress and the ambitious agenda of the Three Seas Art Festival, and its current realization), some pillars do not align with the perceived extent. It could be noticeable in the context of the earlier considered 3SI soft forms of partnership, such as, partially, the Three Seas Regions Network and the Three Seas Universities Network. With the undertaken decisions during the 3Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum, like signing the declarations of constructing some infrastructural routes or enhancing the collaboration between some entities (Lubelskie Voivodeship with the Khmelnytskyi Oblast and the Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School), some concrete projects resulting from these agreements could be the evidence of the efficient soft power collaboration in these dimensions, and be the inspiration to develop the peculiar assocation within this kind of cooperation.
Similar problems, especially the unclear functioning and the incontinuity, concern the newly analyzed Three Seas soft power fields. In respect to the first of them, namely the Three Seas Tourism Network, there is still no formal source of information concerning its establishment, declaration of appointment, aims, and entities. A similar situation concerns the Three Seas Parliamentary Forum, which was held in 2021 and 2022 with no continuation. Another problem with the continuity of initiated projects is seen in the example of the Three Seas Business Development Association, which was created in 2023, and there are no more details about its functioning.
However, with the ongoing regular increase in interest in developing various types of Three Seas soft power cooperation, and the following decisions and discussions primarily during the 3Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum in Lublin, and some other 3SI events, could result in building the stable fundamentals for their functioning. Regarding their current individual aims, they should strive to encourage other thematic organizations to join their Networks and to promote good practices in their sectors and to create some new, peculiar initiatives. To develop these undertakings, raising awareness about them is essential. Like the previous soft power pillars of the Three Seas Initiative, these dimensions, like tourism, parliamentarism and inter-governance, and entrepreneurship, should also be embedded in the 3Seas Local Government Congress and Economic Forum. The separate sessions or panels about them ought to be organized. If they took place, the attention should be paid to the enhanced dialogue, experience-changing, and eventual significance of the cooperation in these dimensions within the Three Seas format. These aspects have to be included separately within both of Lublin’s accompanying events while maintaining the specificity of Congress and the Economic Forum. What is more, thoughtful and reasonable combining these pillars and also previously analyzed ones with other matters concerning people like sport, housing, health, and urban areas, will interest more various stakeholders and inspire them to develop the 3SI cooperation also in these fields.
Despite the huge potential of the various important events within the format, namely the annual Three Seas Summit and Business Forum, it could utilize them much more significantly to strengthen soft power collaboration. In this regard, the return to the way of organizing the side events at this event on a bigger extend (as it was in 2024 in Vilnius) will popularize the soft power cooperation (and different 3SI aspects). Then, a lot of academic, non-governmental, and individual professionals could more easily express their willingness to arrange and hold their meetings within the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum related to diverse issues of the Three Seas development. A lot of the above analyzed 3SI soft power pillars were discussed during these events (among others, entrepreneurship, science and education). Interestingly, the Three Seas Cultural Cooperation Network was established during one of the side events in 2024, and some other soft power fields could follow this way. Simultaneously, the non-functioning fora such as The Three Seas Civil Society Forum, Three Seas Parliamentary Forum and the Three Seas Business Development Association, and the newly created Three Seas Tourism Network too, ought to be anchored within these regular side events of the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum.
Table 4. The next analyzed challenges of the “soft” dimension of Three Seas cooperation based on the main problems, recommended solutions, and expected results
Endnotes
- The panel titled “Debate of the Regions: Rebuilding Ukraine – How to cooperate and help Ukraine’s regions to rebuild and prepare for European Union membership?” ↑
- “Debate on Culture: Culture as a tool to promote the region: cooperation between administration, institutions and the private sector” ↑
- The precise aims of both of these parliamentary initiatives are described in the consensed table below with the whole soft power pillars, their fields, characteristics and aims. ↑
- Andriy Smorodin and Tamara Kazarova give the presentation about the Three Seas Initiative – Ukraine Platform with introducing the projects related to Ukraine’s participation in the 3SI, where Lublin is a window of its involvement in the format. ↑
- With the participation of Yuriy Kamelchuk, Andriy Smorodin, and Zanudin Serhii, both from the Three Seas Initiative – Ukraine Platform and Vadym Halaichuk. ↑
- The updated table in accordance to the Table 2. Summary of the soft-power forms of cooperation within the Three Seas organised by initiative name, field, short characteristics and aims in the previous article about the Soft power cooperation in the Three Seas Initiative ↑
References
3S1O. “Speakers 2025.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3s1o.org/en/conference/speakers-2025].
Bulgaria News Agency. “Bulgaria and Poland Establish New Network for Tourism Cooperation within Three Seas.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://www.bta.bg/en/news/economy/852021-bulgaria-and-poland-establish-new-network-for-tourism-cooperation-within-three-s].
Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School. “SGMK Signs Agreement with Lublin Voivodeship.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://www.sgmk.edu.pl/sgmk-signs-agreement-with-lublin-viovodeship/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “V edycja Kongresu Trójmorza w obiektywie.” Accessed June 1, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/v-edycja-kongresu-trojmorza-w-obiektywie/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “V Samorzadowy Kongres Trojmorza Forum Gospodarcze Podsumowanie Pierwszego Dnia.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.lubelskie.pl/aktualnosci/v-samorzadowy-kongres-trojmorza-forum-gospodarcze-podsumowanie-pierwszego-dnia/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Agenda 2025 Day 1.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/agenda-2025-day-1/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Agenda 2025 Day 2.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/agenda-2025-day-2/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Agenda Trojmorze 2024 Dzien 2.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Agenda_Trojmorze2024_DZIEN-2.pdf].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Congress Lubelskie.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Second Day of the Three Seas Local Government Congress.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/second-day-of-the-three-seas-local-government-congress/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Speakers 2024 I Day.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/speakers-2024-i-day/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Spotkanie Samorządów z Obwodu Chmielnickiego i Województwa Lubelskiego.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://www.lubelskie.pl/aktualnosci-fundusze-europejskie/spotkanie-samorzadow-z-obwodu-chmielnickiego-i-wojewodztwa-lubelskiego/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Summary of the 1st Day of the Three Seas Local Government Congress.” Accessed April 6, 2025. [https://congress.lubelskie.pl/en/summary-of-the-1st-day-of-the-three-seas-local-government-congress/].
Lubelskie Voivodeship. “Three Seas Network.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3seasnetwork.lubelskie.pl/](https://3seasnetwork.lubelskie.pl/].
President of Poland. “The High-Level Opening Session of the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.president.pl/news/the-highlevel-opening-session-of-the-three-seas-initiative-business-forum,74105].
Project The Three Seas Initiative Research Center. “Presentation 1: Three Seas Initiative.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3si.politic.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Presentation-1_Three-Seas-Initiative.pptx].
SGMK. “SGMK and Central European Academy Sign Cooperation Agreement.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.sgmk.edu.pl/sgmk-and-central-european-academy-sign-cooperation-agreement/)].
SGMK. “Rector of SGMK Attends 3Seas Local Government Congress in Lublin.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.sgmk.edu.pl/rector-of-sgmk-attends-3seas-local-government-congress-in-lublin/].
SGMK. “SGMK Signs Agreement with Lublin Voivodeship.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.sgmk.edu.pl/sgmk-signs-agreement-with-lublin-viovodeship/].
SGMK. “SGMK Zawarlo Porozumienie z Wojewodztwem Lubelskim.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.sgmk.edu.pl/sgmk-zawarlo-porozumienie-z-wojewodztwem-lubelskim/].
Three Seas Art Festival. “3SI Art Festival. Artists and Curators Residencies in Krakow”. Accessed April 9, 2025. [https://3siartfestival.uken.krakow.pl/2025/02/25/rezydencje-artystow-i-kuratorow-w-krakowie-artists-and-curators-residencies-in-krakow/)].
Three Seas Art Festival. “3SI Art Festival. Idea.” Accessed April 9, 2025. [https://3siartfestival.uken.krakow.pl/idea/)].
Three Seas Art Festival. “Funds.” Accessed April 10, 2025. [https://3siartfestival.uken.krakow.pl/funds/].
Three Seas Initiative. “3SI Parliamentary Forum.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3seas.eu/event/3si-parliamentary-forum].
Three Seas Initiative. “3SICCN.” Accessed June 8, 2025. [https://3seas.eu/event/side-events-1/3siccn].
Three Seas Initiative. “The Latvian Parliament Hosted the 2nd Parliamentary Forum of the Three Seas Initiative.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3seas.eu/media/news/the-latvian-parliament-hosted-the-2nd-parliamentary-forum-of-the-three-seas-initiative].
Three Seas Initiative. “Perspectives of Business Development in the Three Seas Region.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.3seas.eu/event/side-events-1/perspectives-of-business-development-in-the-three-seas-region].
Three Seas Initiative. “Side Events.” Accessed June 8, 2025. [https://3seas.eu/event/side-events-1].
Three Seas Initiative. “Three Seas Initiative.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3seas.eu/).
Three Seas University Network. “Member Universities.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3sun.kul.pl/en/member-universities/](https://3sun.kul.pl/en/member-universities/].
Three Seas University Network. “New Member Universities of the Three Seas University Network.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://3sun.kul.pl/en/news/new-member-universities-of-the-three-seas-university-network/)].
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. “News” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.rada.gov.ua/en/news/News/258267.html].
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. “News Novyny.” Accessed May 10, 2025. [https://www.rada.gov.ua/news/Novyny/245975.html].
