B9 summit calls for strengthening of NATO defense architecture

BUCHAREST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The virtual Summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) format closed late Monday with a joint declaration, expressing the expectation and support of the participating countries for the upcoming NATO Summit to take substantive and forward-looking decisions to strengthen the alliance's deterrence and defense architecture.

"We endorse the recently adopted strategic military concepts for strengthening deterrence and defense of our Alliance and commit to their full implementation," the participants of the summit stated in the joint declaration, adding that allies should commit to modernizing the NATO Force Structure.

According to the declaration, the heads of state of the nine countries reiterated their commitment to NATO's Open Door policy, stressing that NATO's door should remain open to all willing and able to join the community.

The summit was hosted by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and his visiting Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Bucharest. Leaders of the other seven member states as well as U.S. President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg joined the event via video link.

The B9 is an initiative launched by the presidents of Romania and Poland, joining a group of European countries on the eastern edge of NATO -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

The first B9 summit was held in Bucharest in 2015.