The talks focused on measures taken by NATO and its member states to continue with political, military, and material support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion, and on substantial reinforcement of NATO’s eastern flank. The B9 meeting was also designed as a preliminary event in the run-up to the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs scheduled for 6-7 April in Brussels and the NATO summit to be held in Madrid (29-30 June). 

“Faced with a threat to security in our region that has had no precedent after 1945, we must consistently develop defence capabilities, strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, and reject the approach where any allied state is treated like a second-class member. It is also necessary to continue to tighten sanctions against Russia, including by imposing a total embargo on hydrocarbons. By the end of 2022, Poland will have become wholly independent of Russia’s gas, oil, and coal. We encourage other countries to follow our lead,” said Deputy Minister Jabłoński. He noted that our region needs to cooperate more closely to achieve NATO’s objectives, including to increase synergy and interoperability, both within the Bucharest Nine and in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a whole. 

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The Bucharest Nine – an initiative by Poland and Romania – was officially launched with a meeting of presidents of the region’s countries in Warsaw in 2015. It was designed as a forum for exchanging views and coordinating positions on the security of NATO’s eastern flank countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, and Bulgaria). The last B9 meeting at the level of foreign ministers was held in Tallinn in 2021.

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Press Spokesperson

 

Photo: Slovakia’s MFA