Heads of state
\nand government from Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
\nLithuania, Poland and Slovakia, who have convened in Bratislava as the
\nBucharest 9 format, have vehemently condemned the brutal, unjustified and illegal
\nwar Russia has been waging on Ukraine. In the joint statement issued during the
\nsummit, which has also been attended by NATO Secretary General, Jens
\nStoltenberg, the participants say that Russia must cease its ongoing attacks
\nagainst the civil population and infrastructure, and put an end to the deportation
\nof children and sexual violence and unconditionally pull out its troops from
\nthe Ukrainian territory. At the same
\ntime the participants have called on Belarus to cease its complicity in the
\nRussian aggression and pledged to hold the aggressors accountable for their
\ncrimes by setting up a proper legal mechanism. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to Romanian
\npresident Klaus Iohannis, the security of the countries in NATO’s eastern flank
\nmust be strengthened and the summit in the Slovakian capital has reconfirmed
\nthat the B9 countries are taking action for strengthening the security of the
\nEuro-Atlantic community as a whole. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Klaus Iohannis: We, the countries in
\nthe eastern flank, are the frontline in the process of countering the
\ndisastrous effects of this war with multiple implications in terms of security,
\nin the humanitarian area, as well as in the fields of economy, food and energy
\nproduction. Russia will continue to be the biggest threat to European and
\nEuro-Atlantic security. And for this reason we all understand the need for consolidating
\nour national defence and for the creation of a robust and effective defence.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Iohannis has
\nspecified that Romania will stay together with Ukraine as long as it is needed
\nand that Bucharest is staunchly supporting the Euro-Atlantic integration
\nprospects of the neighboring state. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At the same time,
\nIohannis and the other B9 leaders have hailed Finland in its new capacity as a NATO
\nmember and have reconfirmed the support granted to Sweden to become a
\nfully-fledged member as soon as possible, which they believe, will further
\nstrengthen the Alliance<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The B9
\nparticipants have also proposed the setting up of a joint center for research,
\ntraining and education with Ukraine, based in Poland, as well as a more
\nsignificant and comprehensive multi-annual support package aimed at
\nstrengthening Kyiv’s defence capabilities including through the implementation
\nof NATO standards. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Last but not
\nleast, the B9 leaders have condemned the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam
\non the Dnieper, which they described as a war crime as the flood created in the
\naftermath is presently threatening thousands of people. There is no information
\non the perpetrators, but Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for the
\nattack. The B9 format was established on November 4th 2015 in
\nRomania’s capital city Bucharest upon the initiative of the presidents of
\nRomania and Poland, Klaus Iohannis and Andrzej Duda respectively.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(bill)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leaders of the nine NATO members in Central and Eastern Europe, Romania included, have firmly condemned Russias war against Ukraine at the Bucharest 9 summit held in Bratislava<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[33260,30901,28915,29125,29310,28905],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-95924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-b9","tag-bratislava","tag-bucharest","tag-iohannis","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n