On Monday, the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, will host a high-level meeting of leaders from the eastern and northern flank of NATO (the B9 format and the Nordic countries), one month before the NATO summit.
Among the guests are the Secretary-General of the Alliance, Mark Rutte, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and for the new President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, it will be his first major international appearance as head of state.
The meeting will focus on strengthening the security and defense of the eastern flank and preparations for the NATO summit, which will take place in The Hague on June 24-25.
President Gitanas Nausėda will host the summit at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.
Representatives of the so-called Bucharest-9 format (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary), as well as the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) and the President of Ukraine will come to Lithuania.
Meanwhile, President Nicușor Dan mentioned on Friday that he will travel to Vilnius for the summit on Monday and specified that he will consult with Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr about Romania's position at the meeting. "Vilnius is a matter of foreign policy and security, and I want to know where we stand," explained the new head of state.
According to the announcement made by NATO on Friday, on Monday at 3:00 PM local time (and in Romania), Mark Rutte will hold a press conference in Vilnius with several leaders, including Nicușor Dan.
The press conference will also be attended by the summit host, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, President of Poland Andrzej Duda (in the final year of his term), Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
B-9 is Iohannis' creation
The "Bucharest Nine" (B-9) initiative is a platform for political and economic cooperation among nine NATO countries to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security on the eastern flank. The format was established at the initiative of Klaus Iohannis and the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, in 2015, and the first summit took place in Bucharest. The group was created in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The agenda items will include increasing defense spending by NATO members, supporting Ukraine on its path to a just and lasting peace, and deepening Euro-Atlantic cooperation in the field of security.