Pellegrini to Depart for Bucharest Nine Summit in Romania on Tuesday

Bratislava, 12 May (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini will leave for Romania on Tuesday evening to attend the Bucharest Nine (B9) summit on Wednesday (13 May), TASR has learnt from the President's Office's communications department, which added that the negotiations between the leaders of NATO's eastern flank countries will be hosted by Romanian President Nicusor Dan. "The Slovak president will travel to Romania together with Czech President Petr Pavel following a meeting of the presidents of the Austerlitz Format countries in Bratislava. Both presidents will fly to Bucharest on a Czech government plane," stated the department. In Bucharest, the leaders will discuss the current security situation in Europe and the world, security on NATO's eastern flank, and strengthening the resilience and defence capabilities of the Alliance and European allies against current threats. The talks will also touch upon building up the capabilities of member states, defence investments and the development of the defence industry. A working lunch will include a discussion on the situation in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance. The Bucharest Nine brings together nine NATO-member states on the Alliance's eastern flank and serves to coordinate the allies' positions on security issues of common interest. The summit will also be attended by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and by representatives of the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Following the talks, Pellegrini will also visit the Black Sea Defence, Aerospace and Security (BSDA) international exhibition, one of the largest defence and aerospace industry events in the Black Sea region. jrg/df