The Bucharest Nine

• 26 Mar 2022

For Prelims: Bucharest Nine, Cold War, European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Three Seas Initiative, Location of B 9 Countries and their Neighbourhood.

For Mains: Important International Institutions, Russia Ukraine War

Why in News?

Recently, the Bucharest Nine (B 9) rejected the Russian claim about the eastward “expansion” of North-Atlantic Treaty Alliance organisation (NATO).

• They underlined that NATO is not an organisation that “expanded” to the east”, rather, these countries as the independent European states that decided on our own to go west.

What is Bucharest Nine?

• The B 9 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 B 9 or Bucharest Format, often abbreviated as the B9, was founded on November 4, 2015.
• It takes its name from Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
• B9, it is also regarded as the “voice of the Eastern Flank” in the NATO alliance.
• The group was created on the initiative of Klaus Iohannis, who has been President of Romania 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.
• The members of B9 are Romania and Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• B9 offers a platform for deepening the dialogue and consultation among the participant allied states across the members of NATO.
  • All nine countries were once closely associated with the now dissolved Soviet Union, but later chose the path of democracy.
• All members of the B9 are part of the European Union (EU) and NATO.
• The B9 countries have been critical of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014, when the war in the Donbas started and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.

What is the Three Seas Initiative?

• B9 should not be confused with Three Seas Initiative (3SI).
• The 3SI is a regional effort in Europe to expand cross-border energy, transportation, and digital infrastructure and boost economic development in the area between the Adriatic Sea, Baltic Sea, and Black Sea.
• Twelve countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia), all of which are members of the EU, participate in the 3SI.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q. With reference to a grouping of countries known as BRICS, consider the following statements: (2014)

1. The First Summit of BRICS was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2009.
2. South Africa was the last to join the BRICS grouping.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: (b)

Q. With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC)’, consider the following statements: (2015)

1. It was established very recently in response to incidents of piracy and accidents of oil spills.
2. It is an alliance meant for maritime security only.

Which of the statements given above is/ are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: (d)

Source: IE