“Faced with increased security risks in Romania and the Black Sea, the consolidation of NATO in its eastern wing (…) is becoming even more urgent and critical,” Romanian President Klaus Johannes said at the start of the meeting. which is co-chaired by his Polish counterpart, Andrei Duda.
The leaders of nine Central and Eastern European countries gathered in Bucharest today to call for NATO’s eastern wing to counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, less than three weeks before a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) .
“Faced with increased security risks in Romania and the Black Sea, the consolidation of NATO in its eastern wing (…) is becoming even more urgent and critical,” Romanian President Klaus Johannes said at the start of the meeting. which is co-chaired by his Polish counterpart, Andrei Duda.
The Alliance summit will set out “a long-term vision, through the new strategy of perception, putting collective defense and Article 5 (its treaty) at the center of action,” he said, supporting the “strengthening of the stance.” prevention and defense “, in response to” threats posed by Russia “.
Article 5 of the NATO Treaty stipulates that if a NATO country receives an armed attack, each member state of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the appropriate measures it deems necessary for the aid to the attacked country.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who had announced his participation in the Bucharest meeting, was forced to cancel it due to health problems, but is expected to attend the discussions online.
The leaders of the nine participating states – Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia – will examine the impact of the Russian invasion on the security of the “vulnerable partners” of the Alliance, including the Alliance.
During a telephone conversation with Duda on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed “the US commitment to the security (…) of NATO’s eastern wing” and expressed hope that the Bucharest meeting would be a “success”. ».
In 2017, NATO deployed multinational battle groups in the Baltic states and Poland to deter Russia, and then sent reinforcements after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February.
