Eastern European NATO states would like a bigger presence of allied military forces on the bloc's eastern flank, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday after a virtual summit of those states that was also joined by U.S. President Joe Biden.
"NATO must continue to strengthen its defence and deterrence posture especially on the Eastern flank, from ... the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea," Iohannis said after the summit.
"This is why I have argued, including in discussions with President Biden, for an increase of allied military presence in Romania and ... the south of the Eastern flank."
The summit of the Bucharest Nine, a group of European countries on the eastern edge of NATO was jointly hosted by Iohannis and Poland's President Andrzej Duda.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
