NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has reiterated the alliance’s full support to the states on NATO’s eastern flank in case of an attack, amidst Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“NATO has the forces, resources, capabilities, and political will to defend every ally,” Stoltenberg said today after a meeting with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga.
Stoltenberg participated in a one-day meeting of the so-called “Bucharest Nine” – B9, in Riga.
The group includes Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – in other words, the states that make up NATO’s eastern flank.
The summit, which also included Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Finnish President Alexander Stubb as guests, was organized in preparation for the NATO summit in Washington in July.
“B9 Summit is a symbolic and very practical platform to coordinate our positions on further strengthening the Alliance, regional security, and our support for Ukraine,” said Rinkevics.
The nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe are concerned about their security in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine and – with the exception of Hungary – are among the most determined supporters of Ukraine.
Hungary, which maintains close ties with Moscow, was represented at the Riga meeting only by its ambassador – as was Slovakia.
Polish President Andrzej Duda considered the lack of a high-level representative from Hungary as “not dangerous.”
“We are united in NATO, and I am absolutely sure that we are also united when it comes to security in Eastern Europe,” Duda said upon his arrival at the summit.
Other leaders of the participating states made similar statements regarding Hungary, which, according to a report in the “Financial Times,” might be threatened with exclusion from the B9 format.
The group was founded after the Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 on the initiative of Poland and Romania.
The next NATO summit will be held in Washington from July 9 to 11.
The alliance is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. NATO was founded in the American capital in 1949 by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and nine other Western states.
