Donald Trump, invited by Cotroceni to the B9 summit in Bucharest. “Traditionally, the US president is invited”
Nicusor Dan and Donald Trump shake hands at the NATO summit in The Hague. PHOTO: Presidential Administration
The Presidential Administration will invite US President Donald Trump to the Bucharest 9 (B9) summit that will take place on May 13 in Bucharest, sources from Cotroceni told HotNews.
The official invitation has not been made yet, sources from the Presidential Administration said. The information about the fact that the Cotroceni Palace wants to invite Donald Trump to Bucharest was previously published by Digi24 and Antena3 CNN.
“Traditionally, the US president is invited to the Summits of the Bucharest 9 format. Until now, when it was necessary, the participation of the US presidents was done with physical presence or via video conference”, say the same sources.
In 2022, US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken participated in the Bucharest Format Summit (B9), via video conference.
Sources at the Cotroceni Palace have also now said that if President Trump is unable to attend, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio may be present.
President Nicușor Dan, present at the meeting of Trump's Peace Council
Last week, President Nicușor Dan participated in the meeting of the Peace Council chaired by Donald Trump in Washington. He also shook hands with Donald Trump and held discussions with American officials present at the event such as Marco Rubio or Steve Steve Witkoff, Trump's emissary in the Middle East.
Then, Nicușor Dan explained that Romania can help rebuild schools and reform systems such as public administration and police in Gaza.
VIDEO Board of Peace: At the end, Nicușor Dan went to Donald Trump and they got to shake hands, but a law enforcement officer appeared
What is Bucharest? 9
The B9 format was launched in 2015 by the presidents of Romania and Poland at the time, Klaus Iohannis and Andrzej Duda, in the context of the annexation of Crimea by Russia, as a platform for consultation and coordination of the positions of NATO countries on the eastern flank.
The most recent meeting of the B9 members took place in Vilnius, in Lithuania, a summit attended by Nicușor Dan. At that time, Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, and Volodymyr Zelenski were also present in the capital of Lithuania.
The last B9 summit held in Bucharest was in 2022, a few months after Russia attacked Ukraine. Then the co-founders of the format presented a joint declaration of the nine member states by which:
- They condemned Russia's “unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine, which benefited from the complicity of Belarus and used the Black Sea as a launch pad”
- They reiterated support for Ukraine and for strengthening the eastern flank
- They emphasized the importance of the links between North America and Europe
- They welcomed “the decisions of Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership” (Finland officially joined NATO in 2023 and Sweden in 2024)
- They reaffirmed their firm commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.
