In a joint statement released on Tuesday, Poland's President Andrzej Duda and his counterparts from nations referred to as the Bucharest Nine group as well as from North Macedonia and Montenegro, condemned "mass bombardments of Ukrainian cities carried out by Russia" this week, saying these strikes were war crimes under international law.
"We, the Presidents of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia condemn the mass bombardments of Ukrainian cities recently carried out by Russia, which constitute war crimes under international law," the 11 presidents said.
They added: "We recall that war crimes and crimes against humanity are not subject to any statute of limitations and are covered by jurisdiction of courts all over the world.
"On behalf of our states we demand that Russia immediately stop attacking civilian targets. We will not cease our efforts to bring to court persons responsible of today's crimes."
"We find any threats by Russian representatives to use nuclear weapons unacceptable. In this context, we reaffirm our commitment to protect our countries and allies."
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, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The Bucharest Nine (B9) group of NATO's eastern flank allies is made up of Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, and Slovakia.
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Source: PAP, IAR, prezydent.pl