NATO must be capable to defend every inch of its territory: Romanian President

Following the meeting of Bucharest Nine (grouping the Baltic States, Visegrad Group countries, Romania, and Bulgaria), President of Romania Klaus Iohannis said that NATO must be able to defend the territory of its member states.

Following a conference with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, President Iohannis pointed to the special importance of the B9 format at a time when an open war is being waged right across the border of NATO’s Eastern flank. He also said that US President Biden expressed the support for the B9 format and re-iterated the US readiness to act on the provisions of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

As President Iohannis said, the B9 countries discussed the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid. They recognise the importance of a new strategic concept for NATO. “We must strengthen the Alliance on all levels, as well as define Russia as a threat,” said the Romanian head of state. He believes that NATO must undertake an intense effort to adapt for future threats in order to ensure it can effectively address the challenges ahead. “The Alliance must be capable of defending every centimetre of the allied [nations’] territory,” stressed Mr Iohannis. He also added that the B9 members “want to achieve a stronger NATO presence on the eatern flank, we would want this presence permanent, credible, and uniform, especially in the Black Sea region, which is the most threatened by the challenges from Russia.”

President Iohannis concluded that Romania is taking efforts to provide humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and informed the press that the participants of the B9 summit are in favour of admitting Sweden and Finland to NATO.