Meeting of Bucharest Nine in Poland
A new meeting of defence miniters in the so-called Bucharest 9 Format is expected in Poland’s capital Warsaw on Wednesday when member states are to put together their positions on NATO’s eastern flank designed to promote their common security interests at a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius later this summer. Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tâlvăr and his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak are expected to preside a meeting designed to review latest developments in Ukraine’s war and its regional consequences. The Bucharest Nine or the Bucharest Format (B-9) is a group established on November 4, 2015 following a joint proposal of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Polish President Andrzej Duda. The B9 includes Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The group is a result of a perceived aggression of Russia following its annexation of Crimea Peninsula in 2014.
CIP Forum in Bucharest
A conference of the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Forum opened at the Parliament Palace in Romania’s capital Bucharest on Wednesday with Radio Romania Actualități (RRA) as media partner. Tasks of the event include facilitating global co-operation on issues designed to protect crticial infrastructure. Participants are expected to support digitalization in all critical structures while also creating new jobs in the field. The CIP Forum’s topics would also include issues on global threats and international co-operation, and practical applications for CIP’s emerging technologies.
Austrian Interior Minister on a visit to Romania
„I tell you very openly: as far as I am concerned, I cannot give you a date. First of all, I want results from both of us on protecting EU’s external borders”. The statement belongs to Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Kraner while on a visit to Romania’s capital Bucharest on Wednesday. “The talks were very clear and difficult”, Mr. Kraner told reporters refering to his dialogue with Romanian officials. “However, we see that there are issues of common interest to discuss between the two countries”, the Austrian minister said. “Undoubtedly, Romania meets all technical conditions for joining the Schengen area,” Romanian Interior Minister Lucian Bode said in December last year, adding that he already discussed with his Austrian counterpart Kraner the matter of Schengen expansion and European migration data. According to Austria, more than 75,000 immigrants reach its territory, including through Romania and Bulgaria while Bucharest rejects the claim.
Alexandru Danga
