Address by the President during the opening session of B9
President: In less than two months, Allied leaders will gather at the NATO Summit in Ankara. That summit must send an unmistakable message: NATO is united, NATO is ready, and NATO will defend every inch of Allied territory.
Distinguished Presidents,
Prime Ministers,
Ministers,
Excellencies,
Dear friends,
Allow me first to thank our Romanian hosts for their leadership and hospitality here in Bucharest – the very birthplace of this format and
a symbol of our shared strategic responsibility. I am especially pleased to be here with all of you, as it is the first time I have the privilege to participate in a B9 summit as the Polish President.
I am also glad that we have NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with us today, as well as representatives from Washington, DC.
When Poland and Romania launched the Bucharest Nine eleven years ago, some believed we were sounding the alarm too loudly. We warned that Russia’s revisionism was not temporary. We warned that imperial thinking had returned to Europe. We warned that deterrence could not exist only on paper.
Today, nobody can say they were not warned.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not an isolated conflict. It is a direct challenge to the entire Euro–Atlantic security order. The Kremlin seeks to restore spheres of influence, weaken NATO cohesion, and undermine the sovereignty of democratic nations across our region.
This is why the Bucharest Nine matters more today than at any point since its creation. Our region is no longer NATO’s periphery. It is NATO’s strategic center of gravity. From the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and increasingly to the High North, the security of Europe is being defended every day by the resolve, readiness, and unity of our nations.
That is also why we warmly welcome our Nordic partners today: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
We are all glad that you are here. Your engagement fundamentally strengthens the security architecture of Northern and Eastern Europe. Together, we are building a continuous zone of allied deterrence stretching from the Arctic to the Black Sea.
This unity is our greatest strength – and it is precisely what the Kremlin fears most.
The security of Europe remains inseparable from the strength of the transatlantic bond. A robust and credible Allied military presence on NATO’s Eastern Flank – including the continued engagement of the United States and other Allies – is essential for effective deterrence and the defence of our region.
Colleagues,
In less than two months, Allied leaders will gather at the NATO Summit in Ankara. That summit must send an unmistakable message: NATO is united, NATO is ready, and NATO will defend every inch of Allied territory.
Credible deterrence also requires credible investment. Poland will allocate nearly 5% of GDP to defence this year, making one of the largest contributions within the Alliance. We believe that greater burden–sharing and increased defence spending across NATO are indispensable to our collective security.
The Ankara Summit must therefore strengthen NATO’s forward defence posture and demonstrate that the Alliance possesses both the political will and the military capabilities necessary to deter aggression on every part of Allied territory.
We must also continue and deepen our political and strategic support for the victim of Russian aggression – Ukraine. There should be no doubt as to who launched this brutal war. We must also remain fully aware of the role played by Belarus, which continues to support Russia’s war effort and enables hostile hybrid activities to be launched from its territory against NATO Allies and partners. By doing so we must – collectively – make sure, that if a peace is to be reached just east of our borders, it has to be just.
But a just peace cannot mean rewarding aggression. A durable peace cannot be built on fear and exploitation. And stability cannot come from concessions to imperial blackmail. History teaches our region this lesson with painful clarity.
The nations represented in this room understand perhaps better than anyone the cost of complacency. We know what happens when aggression is underestimated and when democratic nations hesitate.
That is why the Bucharest Nine was created. And that is why its voice must remain strong inside the Alliance. Let us therefore approach the Ankara Summit with strategic clarity and political courage.
The security of Europe will not be guaranteed by declarations alone. It will be guaranteed by strength, preparedness, solidarity, and resolve.
Poland remains committed to all four. Thank you!
