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Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky on Wednesday suggested to his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu that Finland and Sweden should participate as guests in the Bucharest 9 (B9) format.
The proposal was made by Lipavsky at the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy on Wednesday.
"I highly value the Bucharest 9 format. Because of the geographical proximity and shared history, the B9 countries understand Russia and its mindset very well, and our responsibility is to share this knowledge within NATO and the EU. And maybe there is a question for you, Bogdan. With Finland and Sweden being brought into the NATO, is there a place to have maybe something B9? We will be meeting in New York in B9 format and that was just my immediate idea that maybe there is open way to discuss to bring to this platform, at least as a guest, those two states, because they share our security concerns and I am sure that they would bring added value to our discussion," said Lipavsky, told Agerpres.
He noted that security in the Black Sea region "has worsened dramatically," and Moldova and Georgia have become "extremely vulnerable". The Czech minister welcomed the granting of EU candidate status to Moldova, the European path for Georgia and the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.
"There is no doubt that Russia's intentions with Moldova are malign, and in this regard, Moldova's pro-European leadership is basically a blessing and duty at the same time. We stand ready to help Chisinau as much as possible. I very much appreciate Romania's very important assistance, including the Moldova Support Platform," said the head of the Czech diplomacy.
Lipavsky added that Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are now left without any progress on their European track.
"I think it's risky for the stability of the whole neighbourhood. So I am asking all my European colleagues: we need an advance on the visa liberalisation for Kosovo and I think we should give candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina," he said.
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, welcomed the idea of the participation of Sweden and Finland as guests in the B9 Format.
"We have also been thinking about this possibility of inviting both Finland and Sweden as guests to the future B9 meeting. I think it is an excellent idea. I welcome very much your support and proposal. It means that we are on the same page when thinking strategically, and this speaks volumes about how close Romania and the Czech Republic are when we tackle very important issues related to security and defence of our values," said the Romanian diplomat.
