For the first time, a summit in the form of the so-called “Bucharest Nine” – B9 ended without a common declaration due to a lack of consensus regarding aid to Ukraine. The forum was boycotted by the Hungarian President Tamás Shuyok, and the Bulgarian Head of State Rumen Radev confirmed the division between the countries, “starting with the Baltic states through Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia”.
The B9 summit was attended by the presidents of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, while Hungary and Slovakia were represented by their ambassadors in Riga.
For the first time since the format was created in 2015, there was no general statement from the meeting, but a statement on behalf of the presidents of Latvia, Romania and Poland, who are hosting the meeting in Riga.
Radev explained that at his insistence in the statement, there is no obligation for any country to provide military aid to Ukraine, but optional aid.
Hungary and the rest of the Central European countries are in a confrontation over Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s close ties with Russia and his refusal to provide arms to Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán systematically blocks or creates difficulties for the provision of European support to Kyiv.
“These are nine countries on the eastern flank, so there are different views on the extent to which these countries should be involved in supporting Ukraine in the military resolution of this conflict. It’s normal to have different views,” Radev said.
While Radev is in Riga, acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev is participating in Berlin, where a conference on the restoration of Ukraine is being held.
“All of us want to show our support for Ukraine in every aspect, each of the countries – in the extent that they can”, commented Glavchev.
Radev changed his position on providing aid to Ukraine
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev explained that he “expressly insisted” in the B9 statement that the call for any country to provide military aid to Ukraine should be dropped and replaced with aid of choice.
“This year, this summit is different from all the previous ones. For the first time, there will not be a joint declaration of all participants, and you will not see my name under this declaration. Instead, there will be a statement of the two co-chairs – these are Poland and Romania, and the host Latvia. Because no full consensus has been reached regarding the text of this joint declaration, especially regarding the different views on how to achieve a solution to this bloody war.”said Radev.
“Bulgaria was all the time an active participant in the preparatory process and the coordination of the various positions. For example, the initial proposal of the version of the joint statement, which included the obligation of each B9 country to provide military assistance, was changed at my express insistence and in as a result, the position was adopted that each country should decide for itself, at its own discretion and according to its own capabilities, whether and how to help Ukraine – whether with military, with financial or with humanitarian aid. And I consider this a great success in support of common sense and an important step in the direction of shifting the focus – from seeking a solution to this war on the battlefield, which is associated with many casualties, much destruction, uncontrolled escalation and a growing risk to global peace, to seeking a negotiated solution in accordance with the UN Charter.” added the head of state.
The Bulgarian parliament has passed a series of decisions for Bulgaria to support Ukraine with military aid as well.
The forum in Riga takes place a month before the NATO summit in Washington, which Radev expressed his desire to attend. Parliament is expected to decide whether the head of state or the prime minister will travel to the US.
Radev is one of the few European leaders with open pro-Russian positions.
According to him, Ukraine does not have the material and financial resources to achieve its goals on its own.
“We all want Ukraine to restore its territorial integrity and Russia to stop its aggression, but I say again – we must take into account the realities. And the realities are that Ukraine does not have the material, financial and human resources to achieve these goals,” the president commented.
Last month, Rumen Radev skipped the meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia and instead decided to visit Hungary and have a meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and then Switzerland.
Radev and Orbán then stressed the need for effective diplomatic efforts to end hostilities in Ukraine and seek a peaceful solution based on international law.
What are the results of the meeting in Riga
The leaders of NATO’s eastern flank countries will have a more coordinated approach in supporting Ukraine, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said, quoted by Reuters.
The agency emphasizes that the presidents of two countries from the “Bucharest Nine” did not come to the Latvian capital – of Hungary, Tamas Shujok, and of Slovakia, where Peter Pellegrini will soon succeed Zuzana Czaputova.
The division underscores the differing approaches to Russia and Ukraine among Central European states amid Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s continued close ties to Russia and his refusal to provide arms to Ukraine, Reuters noted.
The Latvian president said his Hungarian counterpart had canceled his planned weekend trip to Riga for the B9 meeting.
“The most important thing is to have a more coordinated approach to the summit in Washington when it comes to support for Ukraine, when it comes to strengthening the capabilities of the alliance,” Rinkevich told the meeting.
Shuyok’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The president of Slovakia, Chaputova, also canceled her trip to Riga “at the last minute”, the Latvian presidency announced.
Slovakia cut military aid to Ukraine when Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government came to power last year. Slovakia’s foreign ministry told Reuters that Czaputova’s term expires this week, and Fico cannot attend because of his health after the attack on him last month.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also attended the B9 summit.
“I am confident that the NATO allies will reach an agreement at the NATO summit,” Stoltenberg told reporters, declining to comment on the absence of the presidents of Hungary and Slovakia. Stoltenberg will visit Budapest tomorrow.
Russia’s malign hybrid actions in NATO countries are a source of deep concern, the presidents of Romania, Poland and Latvia said in a joint statement released on the sidelines of the B9 meeting.
NATO’s eastern flank countries say Russia is using a variety of tactics – from sabotage to cyber attacks to illegal migration – to destabilize them over their support for Ukraine. Russia, for its part, has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is behind such actions, according to Reuters.
“We are deeply disturbed by Russia’s recent malicious hybrid activities on the territory of allies, which pose a threat to their security,” said the joint statement by the presidents of Romania, Poland and Latvia, Klaus Iohannis, Andrzej Duda and Edgars Rinkevichs, who chaired today’s meeting.
“We will act both individually and collectively to address these actions, enhance our resilience, and continue to coordinate closely to ensure that the Alliance and allies are prepared to deter and defend against hybrid actions or attacks,” the text also reads.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today that 10 people have been arrested for acts of sabotage in the country in recent weeks. Yesterday, his Czech counterpart Petar Fiala said Russia may be behind the attempted torching of city buses in Prague last week.
“We expect the decisions of the summit in Washington to promote Ukraine’s full interoperability with NATO and build a stable bridge for its membership in the alliance,” the three presidents said.
“On the way to the summit in Washington, we are determined to agree together with allies on a significant aid package, including NATO’s comprehensive role in supporting Ukraine’s inherent right of self-defense and a commitment to provide sustainable long-term financial support.” writes more in their joint statement.
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