Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said that the leaders participating in the B9 Summit held in Bucharest on Friday had a substantial exchange of opinions on the latest developments in terms of security, underlining the necessity that the alliance be able to defend each centimeter of its territory. The Romanian official underlined that the NATO’s future strategic concept must reflect as adequately and realistically possible the new security parameters, make the collective defence a top priority, define Russia as a threat and strengthen the alliance on all levels. Iohannis has also spoken about a boosted NATO presence on the Eastern Flank, mainly at the Black Sea, ‘the most exposed region to the Russian threats’. In turn, Polish president Andrzej Duda said the participant countries wish a ‘more advanced and stronger NATO presence in the region. In a twitter post, US president Joe Biden pledges to defend NATO’s eastern flank strengthening the region’s energy security and work together to support Ukraine”. The summit in Bucharest was attended by the presidents of Poland, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria. The Czech and Slovak presidents had online interventions as well as NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.
