Marcin Przydacz, a senior aide to Polish President Andrzej Duda, said on Tuesday that B9 leaders would adopt a joint declaration during their meeting in the Polish capital.
The B9 meeting is due to take place on the second day of Biden’s visit to Warsaw.
Biden will attend the B9 get-together, as will NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, according to officials.
Importance of regional cooperation
Asked about the details of the meeting, Przydacz told private broadcaster TVN24 on Tuesday: “Cooperation in the region has always been very important for us--for President Duda and for the Polish government. Cooperation among NATO’s eastern-flank countries stems from the basic consideration that we are all near this unstable region east of our borders and we must cooperate with each other.”
'Warsaw is at the centre of discussions on the security of the region’
Przydacz added, as quoted by Polish state news agency PAP: “The fact that eight regional leaders and the secretary-general of NATO are coming here at the invitation of President Andrzej Duda shows that Warsaw is at the centre of discussions on the security of the region.”
Przydacz, who is Duda’s top foreign policy aide, told TVN24 that the B9 summit “will be a discussion that, in a sense, prepares the ground for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.” Przydacz added: “We want key decisions to be taken at the NATO summit.”
He also said "the B9 leaders will discuss their countries’ expectations” and their "certain expectations with regard to the United States, our most important ally.”
"A declaration agreed upon by the whole Bucharest Nine” group will be published after the Warsaw meeting, Przydacz announced.
'We expect concrete steps'
Przydacz told TVN 24: “Everybody will be listening to what US President Joe Biden has to say, what he has actually brought to the eastern flank. Besides the obvious confirmation of guarantees under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, we also expect concrete steps as part of our cooperation with America.”
Przydacz said this included “an increased US presence, not only in terms of people but also infrastructure.”
Wednesday is day 364 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, tvn24.pl