The leaders of the nine Baltic and Central European countries in Bucharest agreed to make a joint effort to ensure long-term deployment of NATO's allied forces and military equipment in the region and regular updates of defense plans. Improving the decision-making procedures and reducing response time will also be on top of the agenda.
The President underlined that defense measures agreed at the NATO summit in Wales a year and a half ago had considerably increased the security of the Baltic and other Central European countries. However, Russia's unpredictable behavior demands additional security measures.
"Russia remains an unpredictable neighbor. Military build-up continues at the border with NATO. Russia's military actions in Syria are increasingly destabilizing the situation in the region, deepening confrontation with the West and creating a new hotbed of threat in the South. Therefore, NATO must be well prepared to counter the newly emerging threats and implement military, political and institutional measures necessary for this purpose," the President said.
The summit issued a joint political declaration voicing the nine states' commitment to enhance NATO's unity and solidarity as well as their contribution to the Alliance's collective defense. Focus is placed on the objective to reach an agreement at the NATO summit to be held in July 2015 in Warsaw on the necessary deterrence measures and to facilitate NATO's decision-making and other procedures required for a swift response to security challenges.
The declaration also states that the full implementation of the Readiness Action Plan adopted in Wales has a strategic importance for the whole Alliance. The countries commit themselves to allocating 2 percent of GDP to defense, strengthening cooperation with NATO partners and placing more focus on hybrid, cyber and other threats.
