Addressing security issues, the Estonian foreign minister underlined that in addition to actual military capabilities, the most powerful deterrence comes from the unity and clear messages of Allies. “We must protect our space of democratic values together and be consistent and united in our explanations that there would be no compromise on the founding principles of our security, such as collective defence or the open door policy,” Liimets said. Minister Liimets also emphasised that these principles must be central to the next strategic concept of NATO.
Participants underlined that Russia is giving no indication it would like to ease tensions; instead, we are seeing an increased military build-up around Ukraine. “For example, we have recently witnessed an unprecedented build-up of Russian troops in Belarus. Russia’s increasing control over Belarus and permanent military presence directly influence the security of our region and NATO as a whole,” Minister Liimets said.
The minister said all diplomatic efforts were needed for supporting Ukraine, most notably constant and solid political support, the readiness to respond to aggression with wide-ranging sanctions and continued comprehensive practical assistance to Ukraine.
The Bucharest Nine platform was launched in 2015 with the aim of holding discussions on common security interests and consultations between its nine members – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary.
In October 2021, Estonia hosted a meeting of B9 foreign ministers in Tallinn, with representatives of the United States and NATO attending.
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