Zagreb – Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković held a series of bilateral meetings on Tuesday ahead of the Parliamentary Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, with counterparts from Romania, Turkey, Slovakia and Albania.
The Three Seas Initiative, launched in 2015 as a Croatian-Polish project, brings together 13 EU member states between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas, along with strategic partners including the European Commission, the United States, Germany, Turkey, Spain and Japan. It aims to strengthen connectivity, particularly in transport, energy and digital infrastructure.
The Zagreb summit marks the first time the initiative has gained a parliamentary dimension. It is the second-largest international event hosted by the Croatian Parliament since independence, after the Crimea Platform summit 2022, with around 30 parliamentary speakers, deputy speakers and officials attending.
In talks with Romanian Senate President Mircea Abrudean, Jandroković highlighted strong cooperation within the EU and NATO, as well as both countries’ ambitions to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He also pointed to the Croatian minority in Romania as a long-standing link between the two countries.
Trade between the two countries has been growing steadily, with a notable increase in Croatian investment, the statement said, adding that cooperation between the ports of Vukovar and Constanța is also developing very positively.
Meeting Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, he stressed the need to further strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation, noting Turkey as a key economic partner outside the EU. Trade between the two countries exceeded €1 billion in 2025, with Turkish investments focused on tourism, renewable energy, banking and petrochemicals.
Jandroković invited Turkish businesspeople to continue investing in the Croatian market and thanked his Turkish counterpart for Ankara’s support for Croatia’s accession to the OECD.
In discussions with Albanian Parliament Speaker Niko Peleshi, both sides welcomed the positive momentum in relations and highlighted a trilateral defence cooperation declaration signed by Croatia, Albania and Kosovo earlier this month as a clear sign of their joint commitment to regional security, resilience and interoperability.
Strategic regional projects, including the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, were also discussed, alongside Albania’s progress in EU accession talks.
With Slovak National Council Speaker Richard Raši, Jandroković discussed the Croatian minority in Slovakia and the Slovak minority in Croatia, praising high standards of protection in both countries.
Trade between Croatia and Slovakia, set to take over the presidency of the initiative next year, continues to grow, reaching nearly €1.5 billion in the first eleven months of 2025, while more than 530,000 Slovak tourists visited Croatia last year.