Biden attended the Bucharest Nine Summit

President Joe Biden attended the Bucharest Nine Summit on Wednesday in Warsaw with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Recall that the Bucharest Nine includes countries on NATO’s eastern flank: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Speaking at the summit, Biden stressed that the U.S. is committed to protecting every inch of NATO territory.

“As NATO’s eastern flank, you stand on the front lines of our collective defense,” Biden said. – “You know better than anyone what is at stake in this conflict, not just for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies across Europe and around the world.

“We must be resolute in deterring further Russian aggression,” said Romanian President Klaus Johannis. – “NATO stands firm, the ‘Bucharest Nine’ is stronger than ever.”

“We must continue to stand firm in our commitment to support Ukraine until it wins this war,” he stated.

Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova said Biden’s presence at the summit was proof of the alliance’s unity.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he would like more U.S. involvement in protecting Europe, NATO’s eastern flank and more weapons sent to Ukraine.

“Let’s give Ukraine all the weapons it needs to defeat the aggressor,” Nausseda wrote on Twitter Wednesday ahead of the meeting. – Let’s continue to strengthen our own defense. NATO’s eastern flank must remain our focus. There must not be a single weak spot left.”

Recall that the creation of this organization was an initiative launched in 2015 by Klaus Johannis and Polish President Andrzej Duda. It aims to strengthen cooperation among the new NATO members to support the alliance’s goals of enhancing security and stability in the region between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.

With the exception of Bulgaria and Hungary, the members of the Bucharest Nine are now strong supporters of military assistance to Ukraine and opposition to Russia.

Instead of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the country’s President Katalin Novak attends the meeting.

Despite some disagreements on Ukraine, the leaders of the Bucharest Nine are paving the way for a common position for the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12.

Speaking in Warsaw on Tuesday, Biden pointed to NATO efforts to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion and pledged that the allies would support Ukraine for as long as necessary.

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