BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — NATO allies should aim to further boost their support for Ukraine and for its aspiration to become a member of the alliance, the leaders of nine Central and Eastern European countries said Tuesday.
The presidents of an informal group known as the Bucharest Nine, the nations in the easternmost parts of the NATO alliance, met in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, to discuss their common approach at the NATO summit scheduled for July 11–13 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
“We aim for a more robust, multi-year, and comprehensive support package for Ukraine, which will reinforce its defence capabilities also by implementing NATO standards and increasing interoperability with NATO,” they said in a statement to conclude their meeting, which was also attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
“In light of Russia's war of aggression, we will continue our strong support to bolster Ukraine's capacity to defend itself and to relieve the humanitarian catastrophe.”
The leaders said they “expect that in Vilnius, we will upgrade our political relations with Ukraine to a new level, and launch a new political track that will lead to Ukraine's membership in NATO, once conditions allow.”
The Bucharest Nine came together in response to Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. The nine countries are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania…
