BRATISLAVA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Presidents from nine central and eastern European countries, or the so-called Bucharest Nine countries (B9), are meeting in Kosice, a city in eastern Slovakia, on Thursday to discuss the current security situation in Europe and its neighborhood.
Launched at the initiative of Romania and Poland in 2016, B9, which consists of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, aims to create a platform of dialogue and cooperation between NATO's eastern flank countries.
Prior to this summit, Slovak President Andrej Kiska met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "We spoke about the need to explain to the public how important it is to invest in our defence. Defending its citizens is the basic role of the state," said Kiska following the meeting.
According to Kiska, Stoltenberg praised the fact that Slovakia is ready to meet all the commitments stemming from its NATO membership.
After the meeting, Kiska stressed that there's a need to speak about defence even in peacetime. He pointed to the fact that there was a threat of war in Ukraine five years ago and that the conflict would have taken place only slightly over 100 kilometers east of Kosice.
The B9 presidents will meet Stoltenberg later. They will also discuss the spreading of disinformation and defence against cyber threats.
The B9 presidents will commemorate the 70th anniversary of NATO's founding and the anniversaries of the B9 countries joining the alliance.
