The talks focused on preparations for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers to be held from 30 November to 1 December 2021 in Riga. The participants discussed, among other things, threats and challenges – both conventional and asymmetric ones – facing NATO’s eastern flank and the transatlantic area, as well as the Alliance’s strategic adaptation in the context of works on the new Strategic Concept. The foreign ministers agreed that it is necessary to formulate NATO’s realistic policy towards Russia, based on enhancing the Alliance’s defence and deterrence capabilities, and on consistently strengthening its resilience. The diplomats also expressed their solidarity with Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia in the face of hybrid threats at the countries’ borders with Belarus.

“The foreign ministers’ meeting in Tallinn aimed to build a common understanding of and response to security challenges for NATO’s eastern flank countries, particularly in the context of Russia’s aggressive actions. I am particularly pleased with the fact that this year’s B9 ministerial meeting has been hosted by Estonia, as our two countries are close political and military partners that have similar views on threats to our national security,” said the deputy head of Polish diplomacy. Deputy Minister Szynkowski vel Sęk underscored 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. The B9 states should also actively support NATO’s open door policy for the Western Balkans and Eastern European countries in order to further expand the security and stability zone.

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 Vilnius in 2020.

 

MFA Press Office

 

Photo: Estonian MFA