BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO is scaling back its high-level meetings and will not hold a leaders’ summit in Albania next year as previously planned amid tension within the alliance over defense spending, Iran and the war in Ukraine.
asserted
NATO → scale → Ukraine
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Thursday that “there is not yet a common position on when the summit will happen, for sure not in 2027.”
asserted
summit → say → 2027
He said that “in 2028, if it will be a summit, it will be in Tirana,” Albania’s capital.
asserted
it → say → Tirana
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the issue.
asserted
Rutte → play → issue
“We are flexible with NATO summits,” he told The Associated Press in an interview.
asserted
he → tell → interview
“We have summits when we need them,” he said, and will hold the next one “when a necessity is there.”
asserted
necessity → have → one
Until about a decade ago, NATO held summits every two years.
asserted
NATO → hold → summits
Ministerial meetings are being cut back too
It’s not just about gatherings between U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterparts.
asserted
It → cut → Trump
NATO defense ministers usually meet in October, but no talks took place last month, and none are planned for October 2027.
asserted
none → meet → October
Foreign ministers only have one scheduled meeting next year, instead of two, under what NATO describes as a “reorganization package.”
asserted
NATO → have → package
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have each skipped a NATO meeting or left before talks ended since they came to office.
asserted
they → skip → office
Hegseth has used defense ministerial gatherings to berate or cajole European allies and Canada.
asserted
Hegseth → use → allies
Questions about Albania’s defense spending
The planned summit in Albania highlights the alliance’s challenges.
asserted
summit → plan → challenges
Albania was appointed next year’s host in 2025, but its name was removed from a July summit declaration.
asserted
name → appoint → declaration
Some allies believe that Albania is not spending enough on defense and they were reluctant to reward the country with NATO’s big event.
asserted
they → believe → event
The government in Tirana is projected to spend 2.15% of its gross domestic product on defense this year.
asserted
government → project → defense
NATO’s target is for the 32 allies to spend 3.5% of GDP on core defense by 2035, and 1.5% on defense-related infrastructure.
asserted
allies → spend → infrastructure
Spain, Belgium and Slovenia are faring much worse.
asserted
Spain → fare → ?
Summits drain resources and have political costs
But hosting a summit itself has tremendous financial and political costs.
asserted
hosting → drain → costs
The Netherlands required a year of preparation ahead of the 2025 meeting in The Hague, and a roughly $100 million investment.
asserted
Netherlands → require → Hague
Officials said NATO would have needed to decide on Albania by October for it to have enough time to organize a summit next year.
asserted
it → say → summit
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hosted this year’s gala in his sprawling palace complex in Ankara, refurbished a military airport for leaders to arrive at, and mobilized tens of thousands of security personnel — virtually shutting down parts of the capital.
asserted
leaders → host → capital
Non-essential public workers were given a week off.
asserted
workers → give → week
“There’s always a lot of security involved,” Rutte told AP.
asserted
Rutte → ’ → AP
“It is a costly event to organize a meeting with 32 allies and then partner countries and the Indo-Pacific partners we have, like Japan and Korea, Australia, New Zealand.”
asserted
we → organize → Japan
Asked whether it was all worth it, Rutte said: “It is.”
asserted
It → ask → ?
The challenge of keeping leaders focused
The summit in Turkey was also a political spectacle.
asserted
summit → keep → Turkey
It threatened to go off the rails even before Trump and his counterparts sat down to work.
asserted
Trump → threaten → rails
Trump revived old talk about taking control of Greenland, a self-governing part of NATO ally Denmark, striking at the heart of the reason that the organization was formed in 1949: mutual defense.
asserted
organization → revive → 1949
Summits are usually a sober show of resolve and unity of purpose by the member countries to dissuade any adversary that might be tempted to test NATO.
uncertain
that → dissuade → NATO
European allies suspect that Russia wants to do just that.
asserted
Russia → suspect → that
In Ankara, Rutte led a “big reveal” defense industry splash to try to convince the American leader that allies are spending big.
asserted
allies → lead → leader
Experts say a summit might not be needed
Besides the price tag, and the costs of keeping Trump on side, experts say that perhaps enough has been achieved for now.
uncertain
enough → say → side
New spending goals and military capability targets have been set, and force planning was discussed in Ankara.
asserted
planning → set → Ankara
“There’s a strong argument to be made that if there aren’t things that merit bringing 32 leaders together, well then maybe you don’t have the meeting,” said David Cattler, Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank.
asserted
Cattler → ’ → tank
“You could go two, maybe three years,” said Cattler, a former top NATO intelligence official.
uncertain
Cattler → go → ?
NATO held its first-ever virtual summit in February 2022, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
asserted
Russia → hold → Ukraine
The Aporia
