The US Congressional Research Service has prepared a report on the Three Seas Initiative (also known as Trimorye), in which analysts draw the attention of the legislature to the possibility of expanding cooperation with project participants.

As follows from the report, with the text of which RT got acquainted, the support of the Three Seas Initiative will complement Washington’s versatile interaction with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

“Apparently, the objectives of the Three Seas Initiative meet a number of broad US goals in the field of security and economics, which attracted the interest of Congress and received its support. Over the past few years, some members of Congress have shown increasing interest in the energy security of Europe and are striving to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, including by facilitating the export of American LNG, ”the report says.

Recall, the Three Seas Initiative unites 12 states: Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic and Estonia. The name of the project reflects geographical characteristics, since the participating countries are located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas.

Trimorye has been operating since 2016. Members of the association are involved in the development of transport and energy infrastructure. Their work also focuses on diversifying energy supplies and strengthening ties with the United States.

As noted in the report of the Research Service, members of Congress may be interested in funding the Initiative. In this context, analysts cite a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about his readiness to invest up to $ 1 billion in the project.

“I want to say that through our financial corporation for international development, we propose allocating up to $ 1 billion to finance the Three Seas Initiative in order to stimulate private sector investment in the energy sector to protect democracy and freedom,” he said at the Munich Conference on security in February.

In his speech, the Secretary of State also emphasized that this will help reduce the region's energy dependence on the Russian Federation.

Service officials point out that some members of Congress have shown strong support for efforts to curb "potential Russian aggression and alleged malicious influence in Europe."

It is worth noting that last year a congressional resolution was submitted to Congress to support the Trimory, focusing on the energy sector. In particular, it was proposed to expand the infrastructural interconnectedness, which would strengthen the national security of the USA and Europe, and condemn Moscow’s attempts to allegedly “use energy as a weapon”.

  • US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
  • Reuters

Imposed infrastructure

Washington’s attention to the Three Seas Initiative is driven by personal commercial motives, said Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund.

“The point of American participation in this program is to create some kind of infrastructure that will allow delivering gas deeper into the European continent. This is a system of interconnectors, gas pipelines in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, primarily from Poland and the southern countries. A receiving LNG terminal will be built on the Croatian island of Krk, and a pipe should go from it deep into Europe and supply those countries that now have a pipe only from Russia, ”he explained in a conversation with RT.

Talk about the terminal in Croatia has been ongoing for several years, said Alexander Frolov, deputy director of the National Energy Institute, in turn. However, the development of the LNG direction for a number of countries in the region is not considered a priority.

“Evaluating the Trimorye, it was assumed that with the US supply, these countries will be able to build a gas transportation system that will partially cut off gas supplies from Russia from Europe. But we are talking about states with very low gas consumption. What is the point for them to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a new project if they already have some gas transmission capacities for which they receive gas in the right volumes? ” - added the expert.

According to Frolov, LNG terminals capable of regasifying more than 220 billion cubic meters have already been built in Europe, while the capacities remain unloaded. Even last year, when purchases of liquefied natural gas almost doubled, the terminals were 50% full at best.  

“Another LNG terminal against this background looks absurd,” he concluded.

"Alternative" for Europe

The Congressional Research Service also mentions new gas projects in Russia, which, according to analysts, are of concern to Washington and the countries of the “Trimorye”.

“The United States and the States of the Three Seas Initiative often express concern about Russia's energy dominance in the region. The Nord Stream-2 and Turkish Stream gas pipeline projects that will allow Russia to increase the possible volume of natural gas deliveries to Europe reinforce this concern, ”the article says.

Citing observers, the authors emphasize that building terminals for liquefied natural gas is one of the key factors for alternative supplies.

Currently, the Baltic Pipe project is being developed as part of the Three Seas Initiative, a gas pipeline that will connect Poland with Norwegian fields in the North Sea.

  • Baltic Pipe Project Plan
  • © Wikimedia Commons

In early May, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced the start of the construction of the highway. According to the operator of the Polish gas network Gaz-System, the cost of the entire project is more than € 1.5 billion. It is assumed that Baltic Pipe will work by 2022 and will replace part of the supplies from the Russian Federation.

“This project is of great importance for the European economy, EU energy sovereignty,” assured Duda.

However, according to Alexander Frolov, the Polish project is purely political and is not able to have a serious impact on the European energy market.

“The pipe itself will not change much. Poland already has one of the most developed gas supply systems in Europe: Russian gas, LNG, production of its own fuel, gas from Germany. In this regard, for Poland, the construction of a new pipe is redundant. This project has a pronounced political color and is designed to show how Poland is independent from Russia, ”commented RT.

At the same time, Poland has repeatedly spoken out against Nord Stream 2. Last year, Duda and his American counterpart Donald Trump issued a joint statement of intent to hinder the implementation of the pipeline.

“Both presidents recognized that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a threat to Europe’s energy security and discussed how best to stop the project,” the White House statement said.

  • Polish President Andrzej Duda and US President Donald Trump
  • Reuters
  • © Carlos Barria

Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly stated that the Russian gas project does not imply any “threat” to Europe and is being developed for mutually beneficial purposes.

“All of the business projects that we are implementing with Europe, including, say, Nord Stream 2, are exclusively commercial, economically sound, they have no political background and no double bottom,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin

Unlike Poland, a number of European countries understand the benefits of purchasing fuel from Russia, Igor Yushkov specified. According to him, US support for European energy programs will be limited to the fact that Washington will force countries to purchase American gas at an overpriced price..

“The Americans are not going to pay for infrastructure, but they are hinting that countries themselves will invest and build, and then they will send LNG and allow it to be bought at higher prices. The practice of purchasing from Poland and Lithuania was just that. For Europeans, there is no gain in this. If they needed it, then everything would have been built long ago, ”the expert concluded.