As America addresses the geopolitical challenges posed by the China-Russia nexus and promotes sound and sustainable alternatives to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a little-known Italian port with a rich history has an important role to play. Trieste, at the head of the Adriatic Sea, historically the maritime gateway of Central and Eastern Europe, is poised to play its part again in connecting Europe to the Indo-Pacific.

The United States and its allies advanced the ball at last year’s G20 summit in India. There, the United States, along with Europe, India, and the Gulf states, launched the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). This initiative, building upon the Abraham Accords and the ongoing coordination among India, Israel, the UAE, and the United States (better known as I2U2), reflects the growing organic economic convergence between India and Europe via West Asia. IMEC also represents a concerted effort by America’s allies to reset global supply lines and bolster the free and open societies of the Transatlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.

Trieste holds the key to IMEC’s success. This key Italian city, for geographic and historical reasons, is the European port best poised to bring this vision to realization. It is fitting then that the United States take a role in supporting this critical port. It was the Trieste United States Troops (TRUST) that protected an independent sovereign Trieste from Soviet encroachment after World War II. Likewise, American sway aided Italy in discontinuing its ill-advised, short-lived flirtation with BRI and keeping Trieste out of Chinese hands. Now, Washington must reaffirm its trust with Trieste, this time as the optimal European entrepôt from which to anchor the burgeoning Indo-European economic convergence, strengthening American allies at the cost of its adversaries.

From Imperial Rome to the Hapsburg Empire to Modern European Gateway

Trieste, originally a fishing village, was elevated to the status of colony by Julius Caesar, with a port constructed during the reign of Augustus. In the late 1300s, Trieste joined the domains of the House of Habsburg. In 1719, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI proclaimed Trieste an Imperial Free Port. The city, under Charles’s successor, the renowned empress Maria Theresa, would thus rise to prominence as the leading seaport and shipbuilding center for Central and Eastern Europe. No other European port boasts closer connectivity and proximity to Milan, Zurich, Munich, Vienna, and Budapest—the European industrial heartland.

At the conclusion of World War II, Italy and the Allied Powers formalized the end of hostilities in the Treaty of Paris in February 1947. Among other things—such as the dissolution of the Italian colonies of Ethiopia and Libya—the treaty finalized Italian border adjustments with its European neighbors. These changes included the territory of Trieste and the Istrian peninsula, which Italy had obtained at the end of the First World War after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These gains were reapportioned at the end of the Second World War. The Istrian peninsula and adjoining lands were then handed to Yugoslavia, which today lies within the borders of Slovenia and Croatia. The port of Trieste and its surrounding areas, however, were incorporated into the Free Territory of Trieste, administered by the occupying forces of the United States, Great Britain, and Yugoslavia, awaiting a final resolution.

Washington and London recognized the criticality of keeping this strategic port free from Communist hands. To that end, the U.S. Army, after World War II, helped administer the eight-year tenure of the Free State of Trieste from 1947 to 1954. The Army command, comprising the 351st Regiment of the 88th Infantry Division, termed the Trieste United States Troops (TRUST), carried out the mandate. In 1954, the responsibility for Trieste was transferred to and absorbed into Italy, which, in turn, designated it as the provincial capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in 1963.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, Trieste faded from the international limelight. The division of Europe created by the Cold War effectively cut the city off from much of its historic economic hinterland of Central and Eastern Europe. It is only relatively recently, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the integration of Eastern European nations into the European Union, that the Free Port is emerging from its long winter to regain its status as Europe’s southern maritime gateway.

Trieste is Vital to U.S. Interests in Eastern Europe, including Ukraine

Trieste’s reemergence on the global stage is critical to the economic growth and prosperity of Central and Eastern European nations. The Free Port is the leading maritime gateway for several European nations, from Austria and Czechia to Hungary and Serbia, among others. Moreover, Trieste ensures its energy lifeline, as it accounts for most of the oil imports to Central and Eastern European economies. More broadly, in addition to being the leading Mediterranean oil port, Trieste ranks third in Europe in short-sea shipping and eighth in total tonnage. It accounts for over 70 percent of Turkish trade with Europe. And Trieste—in active collaboration with Hamburg, Rotterdam, and the inland dry port of Duisburg—forms a critical hub in Europe’s robust and resilient infrastructure network.

Trieste’s contemporary importance will only increase over time for a variety of reasons. Logistically, Trieste boasts extraordinary rail connectivity, with annual trains handled by the port set to grow from 11,500 per annum to over 25,000 by 2026. The city’s port infrastructure is among the most advanced in Europe, with state-of-the-art technology to handle diverse cargo, including containers, bulk goods, specialized freight, and so on. Geographically, Trieste sits at the crossroads of critical Trans-European Transport Networks, including the Baltic-Adriatic and Mediterranean corridors. The former links Trieste with the Polish Baltic ports of Gdansk and Gdynia, while the latter connects it from Spain to Hungary and onwards to Romania. Trieste also straddles two additional networks, including the Rhine-Alpine (Netherlands-Italy) and Scandinavian-Mediterranean (Sweden-Italy).

Recent geopolitical developments have only enhanced Trieste’s strategic value. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with Moscow’s meddling in Georgia and Syria, has destabilized the Black Sea and unsettled the eastern Mediterranean. Consequently, the North Adriatic is of critical importance as a commercial and naval ballast for economically dynamic Central and Eastern Europe states, now confronting a revisionist Russia. Additionally, the North Adriatic is also pivotal in cementing growing commercial engagement among Europe, West Asia, India, and Africa.

It is no wonder then that China targeted Trieste as one of its primary European acquisitions under the Belt and Road Initiative. Trieste’s deep-water port holds high significance in buttressing NATO’s infrastructure connectivity and mobilization in its eastern frontier. It is also poised to play an integral part in the future reconstruction of Ukraine and its economic integration with the rest of Europe.

Connecting Indo-Mediterranean Free and Open Spaces

There is a more symbolic dimension to Trieste’s importance. The Free Port, in ideology and practice, is an apt leader in connecting the free and open spaces of the Med-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific. The city, driven by a desire to be free of the Venetian control of the Adriatic, was an early champion of freedom of navigation, including Hugo Grotius’s seminal 1609 treatise Mare Liberum (The Freedom of the Seas). Trieste’s status as an international free port is enshrined in the Treaty of Paris 1947. This historic status informs its commercial operations, including non-discriminatory access for naval and land operators amid additional concessions.

The city, in the most practical and material of ways, embodies the spirit of the European project in advancing the free movement of goods and services. This makes it not only a physical but also a symbolic lighthouse for the economies of Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Reaffirming American Support of Trieste

The United States played an instrumental role in ensuring the strategic autonomy of the Free Port of Trieste by keeping it free from the clutches of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and the Chinese Communist Party in the present. It is thus both opportune and prudent for Washington to build upon its brief but consequential historical tryst with Trieste’s freedom. This would reaffirm and reinstall the Free Port at the head of a network of North Adriatic ports—including Koper and Rijeka—to become a leading roundabout for burgeoning Indo-Mediterranean economic and security links.

The United States can accomplish this by pursuing three reinforcing lines of effort—diplomatic, economic, and security.

First, it must engage with Italy, the European Commission, and leading Central and Eastern European states to secure a clear and forceful commitment towards the development of a Trieste-centered, North Adriatic maritime gateway. Additionally, it must catalyze coordination among European, West Asian, and Indo-Pacific nations to echo Europe’s commitment to the Trieste-led North Adriatic ports network.

Second, it must direct U.S. development finance institutions (DFIs) to help facilitate infrastructure investments in the North Adriatic ports and the road and railway networks radiating to their hinterland. U.S. DFIs can play an instrumental role in leveraging American capital markets and institutional investors in the remunerative and strategically rewarding endeavor.

Third, it must hold Adriatic NATO nations accountable for meeting their defense budget commitments, with an eye to naval capabilities and defense of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.

The Free Port of Trieste stands as a pivotal partner in the U.S. strategy to counter the geopolitical aggression of China and Russia. By reaffirming its commitment to Trieste, the United States can revitalize a crucial maritime gateway that enhances global supply lines and reinforces the principles of free and open trade and commerce. Leveraging Trieste’s historical significance and strategic location, Washington can foster stronger diplomatic ties, stimulate economic growth through infrastructure investments, and bolster security measures in the region. Importantly, Trieste, with its access to the heart of Central and Eastern Europe, offers a rich investment opportunity for American industry. 

Through coordinated efforts with European and Indo-Pacific allies, Washington can ensure that the Free Port of Trieste not only thrives but also serves as a destination for American investments, a beacon of transatlantic solidarity, and a bulwark against authoritarian encroachments. This multifaceted approach will solidify Trieste’s role in advancing American interests and upholding the virtues of freedom and prosperity across critical geographies.

Kaush Arha is president of the Free & Open Indo-Pacific Forum and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue.

Carlos Roa is a Visiting Fellow at the Danube Institute and an Associate Washington Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy. He is the former executive editor of The National Interest and remains a contributing editor of that publication.

Image: xbrchx / Shutterstock.com.