Russia's war against Ukraine requires adequate measures both to ensure security in Eastern Europe and to deal with the secondary effects of the crisis. Ensuring security and predictability in international relations is key to faster recovery and limiting the damage from the hostilities. This is what President Rumen Radev said today at the B9 Summit taking place in Bucharest, Romania. The meeting brings together Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, which are coordinating positions on NATO's agenda ahead of the alliance's summit to be held in Madrid later this month.
Speaking at the forum, President Radev recalled that for years the Alliance had focused on conducting peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions abroad. However, the worsened security environment in Europe requires timely decisions on the modernisation and development of the member states' own defence capabilities. Rumen Radev pointed out that the military operations in Ukraine would certainly be reflected in the adoption of the new NATO strategic concept at the Madrid summit, but individual countries could not be only consumers of security and should invest the necessary resources for greater interoperability between their armed forces.
According to the President, interoperability between allies starts with the development and production of defence equipment. The Head of State reiterated his call on the member states of the Alliance to unite the efforts of their defence science and industry in common projects, which would also overcome the division in NATO into producer and buyer countries of defence equipment and weaponry.
Along with allied support for strengthening the eastern flank of the alliance, Rumen Radev also pointed to the need for solutions to support energy diversification in Southeast Europe, including the expansion of regional gas transmission infrastructure with NATO financial support. In the Head of State's words, the secondary effects of the war in Ukraine have a strong effect not only in terms of increased energy prices and inflation. They also pose a threat to food security in neighbouring regions. The President therefore called for timely action to support Ukraine's grain exports and prevent new waves of migration to Europe.
On the sidelines of the forum, President Radev held a bilateral meeting with Estonian President Alar Karis.
The B9 meeting also adopted a declaration of the participating countries:
https://www.presidency.ro/en/media/press-releases/declaration-of-the-heads-of-state-bucharest-9-meeting-bucharest-june-10-2022?fbclid=IwAR2KqjdTzsUiJBj7rIf_LGSRaXBtmLHo6lPOOFVv59-AXteM0fI6EOqpfDA