Romania’s President, Nicușor Dan has urged for allies to continue their support for Ukraine and Moldova.
Opening the Bucharest Nine meeting, President Nicușor Dan said that the meeting was taking place in a “dynamic international situation,” pointing to the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the threats experienced by surrounding countries, including Romania, but also Moldova.
The format, established in 2015, brings together the leaders of central eastern Europe and the Baltics with the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
This year, they were joined by some representatives of the Nordics. The Romanian President and Poland’s Karol Nawrocki are the hosts, and they were joined by NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Talking about Ukraine and Moldova, Dan stressed the continuing support for the two countries, adding that “we must not only make [it] declarative, but we must make it effective, because our security depends on their security.”
He also urged countries to increase defence spending and turn it into capabilities, developing a “solid transatlantic military industrial base” and confirming their commitment to act at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara.
Also, Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki said that when the format was first invented, “some believed that we were sounding the alarm too loudly.”
“We warned that Russia’s revisionism was not temporary; we warned that imperial thinking had returned to Europe, and that deterrence could not exist only on paper. Today, nobody can say they were not warned.”
Karol Nawrocki
He said that Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine “is not an isolated conflict,” but rather “a direct challenge to the entire Euro-Atlantic security order.” He added that the region is no longer NATO’s periphery but rather NATO’s’s strategic centre of gravity.
Also, Nawrocki said that the Ankara summit will need to send a clear signal that NATO is united, ready, will defend every inch of allied territory. “The Ankara summit must therefore strengthen Nato’s forward defence posture and demonstrate that the alliance possesses both the political will and the military capabilities necessary to deter aggression on every part of allied territory,” he noted.
Poland’s President ended with strong words of support for Ukraine.
“There should be no doubt as to who launched this brutal war. We must also remain fully aware of the role played by Belarus, which continues to support Russia’s war effort and enables hostile hybrid activities to be launched from its its territory against NATO allies and partners. We must collectively make sure that if a peace is to be reached just east of our borders, it has to be just. The nations represented in this room understand, perhaps better than anyone, the cost of complacency. We know what happens when aggression is underestimated and when democratic nations hesitate.”
Karol Nawrocki
Ukraine Warns Against Russian Drones Attack During Day
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of possible waves of Russian drone attacks throughout the day, saying that more than a hundred drones were in Ukraine’s airspace, as Moscow has shifted tactics to strike increasingly during daylight hour.
He said in a post on X that Russia continues its strikes and “is doing so brazenly – deliberately targeting our railway infrastructure and civilian sites in our cities.” “Unfortunately, people were wounded and killed in these strikes; my condolences to all their families and loved ones,” he said.
He noted that yesterday, 14 regions came under attack throughout the day, adding that overnight strikes targeted residential and railway infrastructure in the Dnipro and Kharkiv regions, port infrastructure in the Odesa region, and energy facilities in the Poltava region. “At all levels, our warriors are countering these attacks, and 111 drones were shot down or jammed overnight alone,” he asserted.
“It is important to support Ukraine and not remain silent about Russia’s war. Every time the war disappears from the top of the news, it encourages Russia to become even more savage. It is important that our diplomats implement the agreements we reach at the leaders’ level as quickly as possible. Ukraine needs the capacity to defend itself every day, and only strong joint action can ensure this. I thank everyone who is helping!”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
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