BURCHAREST NINE (B9)
1. Context
The air chiefs of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden agreed to integrate their air defences to counter the Russian threat. Together, they have nearly 300 fighter aircraft and the goal of the four countries is to eventually operate as one force. It is not often that a country seeks to combine its armed forces with that of another
2. What is Burcharest nine
- The “Bucharest Nine” 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
- The Bucharest Nine or Bucharest Format, often abbreviated as the B9, was founded on November 4, 2015, and takes its name from Bucharest, the capital of Romania
- The group was created on the initiative of Klaus Iohannis, who has been President of Romania since 2014, and Andrzej Duda, who became President of Poland in August 2015, at the High-Level Meeting of the States from Central and Eastern Europe in Bucharest
- According to a 2018 release from the office of the Romanian President, “the Bucharest Format (B9) offers a platform for deepening the dialogue and consultation among the participant allied states, in order to articulate their specific contribution to the ongoing processes across the North-Atlantic Alliance, in total compliance with the principles of solidarity and indivisibility of the security of the NATO Member States.”
3. Composition of Organisation
- The B9 are, apart from Romania and Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
- All nine countries were once closely associated with the now dissolved Soviet Union, but later chose the path of democracy
- Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria are former signatories of the now dissolved Warsaw Pact military alliance led by the Soviet Union
- Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
- All members of the B9 are part of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
4. Against Russia
- The B9 countries have been critical of President Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014, when the war in the Donbas started and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula
- After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the B9 met in Warsaw, and their meeting was joined by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
- India, which has genuine compulsions arising from a long-standing strategic partnership with Russia, must necessarily find a way to reconnect with the central European states that are well on their way to rearranging the strategic map of Europe
5. New Warsaw Pact
A new military alliance is emerging in eastern Europe which will redefine the geopolitical order in the region
It will also mark the emergence of Poland as a major European actor, entrench the position of the US and the UK in European affairs, and marginalise France, Germany and the EU
This is being driven by the increased threat from Russia and the desire of the eastern Europeans for security, the reluctance of the western Europeans to confront their eastern foe, the consequent necessity for the eastern Europeans to find ways to protect themselves, and the external support of the United States and Britain, which want the region to provide for its own security
5.1. Old Warsaw Pact
- The Warsaw Pact, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War
- The Warsaw Pact supplemented existing agreements. Following World War II, the Soviet Union had concluded bilateral treaties with each of the East European states except for East Germany, which was still part of the Soviet occupied-territory of Germany
- When the Federal Republic of Germany entered NATO in early May 1955, the Soviets feared the consequences of a strengthened NATO and a rearmed West Germany and hoped that the Warsaw Treaty Organization could both contain West Germany and negotiate with NATO as an equal partner
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For Prelims: Warsaw Pact, NATO, Cold War
For Mains:
1.What is the meaning ‘de-hyphenation’ in the foreign policy context? Do you think de-hypenation helps India's interests better? (250 Words)
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