NATO eastern-flank states talk security amid Belarus border crisis

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New Intermarium: Biden, NATO pledge support to NATO’s nine-nation Eastern Flank

NATO Deputy Secretary General for Defense at Bucharest 9 meeting: “Russia’s actions are too aggressive towards its neighbours – Ukraine and Georgia”

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Defence ministers from nine countries on the eastern edge of NATO have conferred on how to respond to security challenges including a migrant crisis on Poland’s border with Belarus….

The security consultations in Bucharest focused on the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border as well as on preparations for next year’s NATO summit and relations between the Western military alliance and the European Union, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said after the meeting.

He told reporters that he had briefed the gathering on “the hybrid attack” staged against Poland and its Baltic neighbours Lithuania and Latvia by Belarus’ Lukashenko regime.”

The gathering in the Romanian capital on Thursday brought together defence ministers from nations referred to as the Bucharest Nine (B9) group: Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia….

The Bucharest Nine is a Polish-Romanian initiative launched in 2015 that aims to help exchange views and coordinate positions on the security of NATO’s eastern-flank countries.

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Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks Addresses the Bucharest-Nine Defense Ministerial

Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks virtually addressed NATO eastern flank Allies at the Bucharest-Nine (B9) Defense Ministerial in Romania today. Co-hosted by Romania and Poland, this forum brought together B9 defense ministers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia to discuss recent events in the region, defense cooperation, NATO strategic priorities, and EU-NATO cooperation.

The Deputy Secretary affirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO’s eastern flank and commented on recent Russian activity around Ukraine, the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-EU border, and strategic competition with the Peoples’ Republic of China.

The complementary Three Seas Initiative