Active minilaterals
One tracker per small group. Open a live one to see this week's side-by-side comparison.
The Weimar Triangle
France · Germany · Poland
Concerts French, German and Polish positions so the three governments arrive at European tables having already settled a common line on security and the Union's eastern policy.
Weimar Declaration, 29 August 1991; priorities restated by the three foreign ministers in 2024
The E3
Germany · France · United Kingdom
Prevents Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons by holding a single European negotiating position on its nuclear programme, backed by the sanctions leverage the three governments retain.
Tehran Declaration, 21 October 2003
The Baltic Three
Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania
Presents a single Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian position on regional defence, energy independence and resilience, and builds the shared infrastructure that position depends on.
Agreement on Baltic Parliamentary and Governmental Co-operation, 13 June 1994
AUKUS
Australia · United Kingdom · United States
Gives Australia a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet, and develops advanced military technology jointly between the three governments.
Joint Leaders Statement, 15 September 2021
The Squad
United States · Japan · Australia · Philippines
Deters coercion against the Philippines and upholds freedom of navigation in the South China Sea through combined maritime operations.
First defence ministers' meeting, Hawaii, 2 May 2024
Coalition of the Willing
UK & France (co-chairs) · Germany · ~35 countries in total
Underwrites any Ukrainian ceasefire with security guarantees credible enough to hold, including a multinational force deployed at Ukraine's invitation.
London summit, 2 March 2025
The E5
France · Germany · UK · Italy · Poland
Coordinates Europe's five largest defence budgets on support for Ukraine and on building a European pillar within the Atlantic alliance.
First defence ministers' meeting, Berlin, 25 November 2024
Joint Expeditionary Force
UK · Netherlands · Denmark · Norway · Iceland · Sweden · Finland · Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania
Maintains a British-led, high-readiness force for the Baltic Sea, the High North and the North Atlantic, able to act below the threshold that would summon the full alliance.
Letter of Intent, 5 September 2014; remit reset by the Policy Direction of 2021
Lancaster House 2.0
United Kingdom · France
Deepens British and French defence integration to the point of coordinating Europe's two nuclear deterrents, alongside jointly developed deep-strike weapons.
Northwood Declaration, 10 July 2025
Bucharest Nine
Bulgaria · Czechia · Estonia · Hungary · Latvia · Lithuania · Poland · Romania · Slovakia
Speaks with one voice inside the Atlantic alliance for a permanently reinforced eastern flank, treated as a single theatre from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
First summit, Bucharest, 4 November 2015
Nordic-Baltic Eight
Denmark · Finland · Norway · Sweden · Iceland · Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania
Keeps eight northern European governments aligned across foreign, security and civil policy through continuous consultation rather than a standing institution.
Format established in 1992; work programme set by the Wise Men Report of 2010
Three Seas Initiative
13 states between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas
Closes the north-south infrastructure gap between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas, connecting energy, transport and digital networks across the Union's eastern half.
Dubrovnik Joint Statement, 25 August 2016
Alliance of Sahel States
Mali · Burkina Faso · Niger
Binds three governments to mutual defence, an attack on one treated as an attack on all, and deepens that into a confederation outside the West African regional bloc.
Charter of Liptako-Gourma, 16 September 2023; confederation treaty, 6 July 2024
Mekong-Lancang Cooperation
China · Cambodia · Laos · Myanmar · Thailand · Vietnam
Binds the five downstream Mekong states to China through cooperation on shared water resources, transport connectivity and cross-border economic development.
Sanya Declaration, 23 March 2016
China–Pakistan–Afghanistan Trilateral
China · Pakistan · Afghanistan
Contains cross-border militancy through joint counterterrorism and policing, and extends the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor into Afghanistan.
Trilateral foreign ministers' dialogue, established 26 December 2017
Colombo Security Conclave
India · Sri Lanka · Maldives · Mauritius · Bangladesh
Coordinates Indian Ocean security across five agreed pillars, from maritime safety and counter-terrorism to disaster relief.
Founding charter and secretariat agreement, 30 August 2024
MIKTA
Mexico · Indonesia · South Korea · Turkey · Australia
Gives five cross-regional middle powers a standing channel to coordinate positions in the Group of Twenty, the United Nations and other multilateral bodies.
Inaugural foreign ministers' meeting, 25 September 2013
Intermittent minilaterals
The Visegrád Group
Poland · Czechia · Slovakia · Hungary
Coordinates four Central European governments inside the European Union and the Atlantic alliance, principally on external borders, energy supply and further enlargement.
Visegrád Declaration, 15 February 1991
The Quad
United States · Japan · India · Australia
Sustains a free and open Indo-Pacific through practical cooperation on maritime awareness, critical mineral supply and resilient supply chains.
First leaders' summit, 12 March 2021
US–Japan–ROK Trilateral
United States · Japan · South Korea
Institutionalises three-way security coordination — a standing meeting calendar, named joint exercises and a commitment to consult in a crisis — so that it outlives any single government.
Camp David summit, 18 August 2023
IMEC
India · US · EU · France · Germany · Italy · Saudi Arabia · UAE
Builds a shipping and rail corridor from India through the Gulf to Europe, with an electricity interconnector, a hydrogen pipeline and a data cable laid along the same route.
Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Group of Twenty summit, 9 September 2023
India–France–UAE Trilateral
India · France · UAE
Runs joint projects in solar and nuclear energy, defence manufacturing, and climate and biodiversity protection, with the western Indian Ocean as the shared area of interest.
Trilateral joint statement and roadmap, 4 February 2023
Pacific Alliance
Chile · Colombia · Mexico · Peru
Builds an area of deep integration between four Latin American economies, letting goods, services, capital and people move freely, and projects them together into the Asia- Pacific.
Declaration of Lima, 28 April 2011; Framework Agreement, 6 June 2012
Currently inactive minilaterals
I2U2
India · Israel · UAE · United States
Mobilises private capital and the four countries' technology bases into joint projects in water, energy, transport, health and food security.
First leaders' meeting, 14 July 2022
Negev Forum
Israel · United States · UAE · Bahrain · Egypt · Morocco
Turns the normalisation agreements between Israel and its Arab partners into a standing regional architecture of six permanent working groups.
Negev Summit, 27 March 2022; working groups established 27 June 2022
Chip 4 / Fab 4
United States · Japan · South Korea · Taiwan
Proposed but never agreed: a coordination group on semiconductor supply-chain resilience, diversified fabrication and aligned export controls.
Proposed in March 2022; no joint statement or charter has ever been published