President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday is set to attend the Bucharest Format (B9) Summit to take place in Kosice, the Slovak Republic, the Presidential Administration informs in a press release.
Attending the same event there will be heads of state from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia, as well as the NATO Secretary General.
According to the Presidential Administration, at the meeting, they will approach major topics on the current NATO agenda now, with a focus on the Alliance vicinity security, including here the Black Sea region, on combating hybrid threats and strengthening resilience, in the current international context. Another important topics will be the strengthening of the advanced allied presence, the support for the Eastern partners and for those in the Western Balkans.
At the end of the meeting, the high officials will adopt a joint statement to highlight the common evaluations and objectives of the participant states, including in preparing the next allied summit, which is expected to take place late this year.
The Bucharest Format (B9) was launched at the initiative of the Romanian and Polish Presidents. The first Summit took place in November 2015, in Bucharest, and the second one in Warsaw, in 2018.
The B9 format is in fact a platform meant for strengthening dialogue and cooperation among allies on the Eastern Flank of NATO, in order to articulate their specific contribution to the Alliance's ongoing processes, in full compliance with the principles of solidarity and indivisibility of security of all NATO member states.
The meeting this year takes place in a special context, as the North-Atlantic Alliance marks 70 years in 2019 since its creation, and also 20 and 15 years respectively since the accession of the allied states participant in B9.