Bucharest Nine (B9):
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The B 9 is a group of nine NATO countries in Eastern Europe that became part of the US-led military alliance after the end of the Cold War.
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The B 9 or Bucharest Format, often abbreviated as the B9, was founded on November 4, 2015.
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It takes its name from Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
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B9, it is also regarded as the “voice of the Eastern Flank” in the NATO alliance.
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The members of B9 are Romania and Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
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B9 offers a platform for deepening the dialogue and consultation among the participant allied states across the members of NATO.
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All nine countries were once closely associated with the now dissolved Soviet Union, but later chose the path of democracy.
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All members of the B9 are part of the European Union (EU) and NATO.
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The B9 countries have been critical of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014, when the war in the Donbas started and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
