Polish President: We must be prepared to defend Belarus, if it is necessary to defend this independence

NATO countries must be prepared to defend Belarus, "if it is necessary to defend this independence," Polish President Andrzej Duda told a joint news conference with President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest on Monday.

"This is the problem in Belarus, which also affects Belarusian citizens of Polish origin. We have cases of arrests of Polish minority leaders there. The situation is very difficult, but we have uncertainty about the future of Belarus and its inhabitants. We would very much like this country to move towards democracy, we would very much like this country to become a fully sovereign country, we would like these ambitions and aspirations of the people of Belarus and all the citizens and its inhabitants to be fulfilled," said the Polish head of state, according to the official translation.

"We must be very careful, observe the situation on the one hand, but, on the other hand, be prepared to react to any dangers that may come from that direction and be prepared to defend Belarus if it is necessary to defend this independence," he added.

President Klaus Iohannis is hosting on Monday, together with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, the Bucharest Format Summit (B9). The President of the United States, Joe Biden, will also have an online speech at this summit.

"I am very pleased that the President of the United States will also attend this summit. I am glad that the Secretary General of NATO will also attend. This shows that our meeting is really important, it is a meeting that is welcomed by the North Atlantic Alliance and it shows North Atlantic cohesion," Duda said.

The visit of the Polish President takes place in the context of celebrating the 100th anniversary since the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance Convention between the Kingdom of Romania and the Polish Republic, signed on March 3, 1921, a symbolic moment in the bilateral relationship.

On Tuesday, May 11, the two heads of state will participate in a day of the distinguished visitors of the military exercise "Justice Sword 21," taking place at the Smardan shooting range in which Poland participates with the forces and hardware deployed to Romania under NATO's forward presence on the Eastern Flank, from the NATO Multinational Brigade in Craiova.