NATO chief will travel to Bucharest this week for a Bucharest-9 Summit 2022, hosted by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
The summit comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth month. Romania and Poland are on the frontline and have seen the arrival of significant numbers of NATO troops in recent months.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will hold bilateral talks with the the two presidents and the Hungarian President Katalin Novak with regional security and developments the main topic of discussion.
Following the Summit on Friday, the Secretary General will hold a joint press conference with the Romanian and Polish leaders, NATO said Tuesday in a press release.
The NATO Secretary General will make opening remarks on Friday afternoon followed by a press conference later.
Since the invasion started on Feb. 24, more than 6.5 million refugees are estimated to have fled to neighboring countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Poland remains the main destination for refugees, with 3 million arriving since late
February. About one million entered Romania, with most going on to other countries.
The Bucharest Nine are Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
They were all part of the Warsaw Pact while the Baltic states part of the Soviet Union. They are now all EU members as well as the Western-led military alliance.