The Three Seas Initiative: Ambassador Romana Vlahutin on Europe’s New Geography of Power

For decades, Europe developed along an east-west axis while the north-south spine of the continent remained underleveraged, its energy networks fragmented and its transit corridors incomplete. Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed the calculus. In the aftermath, Europe can no longer treat connectivity as a secondary concern. The Three Seas Initiative, linking twelve European Union member states from the Baltic to the Adriatic to the Black Sea, has emerged as one of the most serious efforts to close that gap through targeted investment in energy, transport, and digital infrastructure across Central and Eastern Europe. Whether the initiative can fulfill its promise depends on political will, sustained capital, and transatlantic coordination at a moment when American engagement with Europe is being questioned. Please join Ambassador Romana Vlahutin and Research Fellow Zineb Riboua for a conversation on the Three Seas Initiative and its role in shaping Europe's new geography of power.