Started nearly a month ago, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
\nSeveral strategic cities are bombed and attacked, while people are fleeing the
\nwar-torn former Soviet republic. In this context, the presidents of Romania and
\nPoland, Klaus Iohannis and Andrzej Duda, respectively, have highlighted the
\nneed to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. The two met in Bucharest on Tuesday,
\nand agreed the two countries should step up their security cooperation.
\nPresident Iohannis argues in favor of an enhanced military presence in Romania
\nand in the Black Sea region, as a defensive response to Russia’s acts of
\naggression.<\/p>\n
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We urgently need a consolidated, consistent and balanced military
\npresence on the eastern flank, a forward presence, united and strengthened. The
\nAlliance needs to boost its military presence in our country and in the Black
\nSea region. A clear and necessary step in this respect is the swift creation of
\na NATO battlegroup in Romania. <\/p>\n
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The current developments require a new strategic concept, which should
\nfirst and foremost factor in the changes generated by Russia’s invasion of
\nUkraine, the Polish president pointed out in turn. President Duda suggested a
\npermanent defensive presence on the eastern flank, consolidated from the point
\nof view of military, technology and infrastructure. These are the things needed
\nright now, in response to Moscow’s actions, the Polish president added. The two
\nofficials also agreed on hosting in Bucharest a NATO B9 summit, two weeks ahead
\nof the NATO Summit scheduled for July in Madrid. B9 is an initiative launched
\nin 2015 by the Romanian and Polish presidents, involving the participation of 9
\nNATO member states on the Alliance’s eastern flank: Bulgaria, the Czech
\nRepublic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
\nThe platform is instrumental to expanding dialogue and cooperation between
\nregional allies, with a view to contributing to the ongoing NATO processes, in
\nfull compliance with the principles of solidarity and undividable security of
\nall NATO member states. In Bucharest, presidents Iohannis and Duda also tackled
\nthe responsibility of the two EU member states in the region. On this occasion,
\nRomania’s president reiterated our country’s firm support for the Republic of
\nMoldova, for its territorial integrity and sovereignty. The impact of the
\nconflict in Ukraine on Moldova is significant, and the country needs robust,
\ncoordinated, financial and logistic support from the EU and its member states,
\nthat should also cover its energy security, president Klaus Iohannis said. The
\ntwo presidents expressed support for the EU integration process of the Republic
\nof Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. (VP)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania and Poland want additional NATO troops to be deployed on the Alliance’s eastern flank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":91560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[40495,37664,28945,13794],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-91559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-andrzej-duda","tag-b9-summit","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-nato"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n