Minister of National Defence, Vasile Dincu, participated in the Bucharest Nine - B9 Defence Ministers Meeting organized in videoconference format, on Monday, 6 June.

The activity was co-organized by Poland and Romania and was attended by the state members' defence ministers (Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary), as well as by the British Secretary of Defence, Ben Wallace, the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Celeste Wallander and NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning, Patrick Turner.

The B9 Meeting was an excellent opportunity to harmonize the defence ministers' positions of the B9 state members on common interest topics, in the context of the upcoming NATO Reunion from 16 June, Brussels and the NATO Madrid Summit over 29-30 June.

In this context, the Romanian defence minister emphasized the relevance of the future B9 Summit hosted by Romania, on June 10, for the harmonization of the B9 state members' positions in the context of the future Allied Summit.

The talks mainly focused on the efforts made to consolidate NATO's deterrence and defence posture on the Eastern flank, the endorsement of the new NATO Strategic Concept and the developments of the regional security situation.

The Romanian official pointed out the fact that Ukraine's invasion by the Russian Federation seriously affects the stability of our region and significantly impacts on Ukraine.

Minister Vasile Dincu told his counterparts that the threats and challenges posed to the common security and the effects of Russian Federation's brutal invasion of Ukraine require an overall consolidation of the security and defence posture all the way from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, since we are now at a crucial moment.

The Bucharest 9 defence ministers adopted a Joint Statement - https://www.mapn.ro/cpresa/17469_joint-statement-by-the--defence-ministers-of-the-bucharest-9 - which certifies the commitment and common position in promoting the defence and security priorities on the Eastern flank, thus, restating the relevance of this cooperation format.

The Press Office