FEBRUARY 22, 2023 Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with the Leaders of the Bucharest Nine Eastern Flank NATO Allies

 FEBRUARY 22, 2023

Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with the Leaders of the Bucharest Nine Eastern Flank NATO Allies

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BRIEFING ROOM

STATEMENTS AND RELEASES

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with the Bucharest Nine (B9) group of our eastern flank NATO Allies as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to underscore the U.S. commitment to Transatlantic security. Ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, leaders reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine and underscored their shared commitment to stand with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes. They discussed the strengthened defensive posture on NATO’s eastern flank, and President Biden reiterated the United States’ ironclad commitment to NATO’s Article 5. They looked forward to further strengthening Alliance unity and collective defense at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July.

Joining President Biden at the meeting were the following leaders:

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev

Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala

Estonian President Alar Karis

Hungarian President Katalin Novak

Latvian President Egils Levits

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg