WARSAW, February 22. /TASS/. The ‘Bucharest Nine’ states (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) advocated Ukraine’s membership in NATO and continued increased presence of the alliance forces on the eastern flank in their joint declaration after the summit, attended by US President Joe Biden, according to the Polish President’s representative on the international affairs Marcin Przydacz.
According to the official, a declaration was adopted after the summit that "reaffirms the joint participation in further policy of deterrence and defense."
"All allies agreed to support each other in case of any threat that, as we hope, it will never come to," he said.
"The participants of the format advocated the continuation of the NATO open door policy. There is a place for Ukraine in Europe, as well as in Euro-Atlantic structures," Przydacz noted.
"The declaration states the need to continue NATO’s reinforced presence on the eastern flank, and takes into consideration the fact that the main security challenges for the entire Northern Atlantic community come from the eastern direction," he added.
The official underscored that the declaration pays significant attention to condemnation of the special military operation.