Challenges for Cooperation of Participating States in the Bucharest Nine Format under the Conditions of the Evolution of the Security Threats on NATO's Eastern Borders.

Abstract

The article reveals the challenges for cooperation of the participating states in the Bucharest Nine initiatives in the conditions of the evolution of security threats on NATO’s eastern borders. The preconditions, purpose and goals of the Bucharest Nine have been highlighted. The group composition of B9 participants on a territorial basis has been considered, namely: the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic), and the Black Sea countries (Bulgaria and Romania). The organizational structure of such a regional format within NATO has been represented. The goals of the Bucharest Nine have been concretized both in the Euro-Atlantic dimension and in the regional one, especially in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. The focus is on the resilience and solidarity of B9 member states in their approaches to guaranteeing the European security architecture, including increasing defense spending and its dynamics, supporting Ukraine and its territorial integrity, as well as assessing threats from the russian federation. The current challenges for the development of the B9 initiative have been highlighted, the key ones being: restrained attitude towards the russian policy in the CEE region; various preconditions for action to increase military capabilities; the position of some Western NATO member states on B9 as a pro-American project, etc. It has been concluded that it is expedient to establish B9 format initiatives within NATO in order to “strengthen the voice” of less powerful states in the conditions of transforming the security architecture in the global dimension, mainly in the context of growing military threat from the russian federation in the CEE region.