The Tuesday meeting of the foreign ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, and Bulgaria in Lithuanian capital focused on exchanging and coordinating positions with regard to security policy. The main points of the agenda were preparations for the upcoming NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, which is to be held in Brussels on 2-3 April 2020. The top diplomats also discussed the future of the organization, burden sharing within the Alliance, as well as adaptation and threat response in the nearest neighbourhood of the Pact.

 - The meeting’s goal was to encourage mutual understanding and responding to security challenges faced by the Eastern flank countries, especially in the context of Russia’s aggressive activities. I am particularly glad it is Lithuania, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its regained independence, that is hosting the ministerial B9 meeting this year, -  underlined Minister Czaputowicz. The head of Polish diplomacy noted that the Central and Eastern European states need to cooperate closely, and the members of the Bucharest Nine should continue to support Ukraine and Georgia in their Euro-Atlantic aspirations in order to expand the zone of stability and security towards the East. The B9 meeting was also attended by US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker and NATO Deputy Secretary General Patrick Turner.

The Bucharest Nine is a Polish-Romanian initiative, launched with a meeting between the two countries’ presidents in Warsaw in 2015. It was initiated 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). Its last meeting at the level of foreign ministers was held in Warsaw in 2017.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

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Photo: Sebastian Indra / MFA