B9 Summit/Andrzej Duda: We meet amid Defender Europe exercise, true symbol of NATO's real power

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday at the opening of the B9 Summit in Bucharest that the event takes place during the Defender Europe military exercise, noting that this is a symbol of "NATO's real power".

We meet right amid the military application called Defender Europe, which takes place in Romania. The maneuvers involve a total of nearly 28,000 soldiers from 26 states. I am very proud to say that a few hours ago the Polish paratroopers made a landing together with the American soldiers, as part of this military application. It is a true symbol not only of the solidarity of our alliance, but also of the real power of NATO, the Polish president said, according to the official translation.

He also spoke about Romania's role in organizing the summit in Bucharest.
"Special thanks to President Klaus Iohannis for organizing this meeting. We co-initiated and are hosting this summit together, however, the main credit goes to Romania for organizing this summit," Duda said.

President Klaus Iohannis is hosting on Monday the Bucharest Format Summit (B9) alongside his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. In addition to the two presidents and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, also addressing the summit online will be US President Joe Biden, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Czech President Milos Zeman, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Hungarian President Janos Ader, Latvian President Egils Levits, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, and Slovak President Zuzana Caputova.

The visit of the Polish President to Bucharest at the invitation of President Klaus Iohannis takes place in the context of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance Convention between the Kingdom of Romania and the Republic of Poland, signed on 3 March, 1921, a symbolic moment of bilateral relations.

On Tuesday, the two presidents will participate in the Distinguished Visitors Day of the military exercise Justice Sword 21, which takes place at the Smardan Shooting Range and in which Poland participates with the forces and technical means deployed in our country within the Adapted Presence on the allied Eastern Flank, from the structures of the NATO Multinational Brigade based in southern Craiova.