Defence diplomacy of the Bucharest Nine (B9) countries during the war in Ukraine. The balance of the first year of the war

Abstract

The article concerns the cooperation of NATO’s eastern flank countries in support of war-torn Ukraine. The aim of the discussion is to show the actions of the B9 countries, implementing the ideas and tasks of defence diplomacy, undertaken during the first year of the war (24 February, 2022 – 24 February, 2023). This support took place in several key areas: political, diplomatic, military, and humanitarian. It was of fundamental importance for maintaining the functioning and stability of Ukraine and its fighting capabilities, especially in the early period after the Russian Federation’s invasion. The author tried to verify the following: how was Ukraine supported in practice? Did all B9 countries equally and with the same level of commitment provide assistance in all the identified areas? What factors could potentially strengthen or weaken the B9 countries’ involvement in implementing the ideas of defence diplomacy in Ukraine? The analysis was based on current data and materials made available over the past year in the media and on the Internet.