NATO Summit in Albania at Risk of Being Canceled – Reuters
The planned NATO summit in Albania is in jeopardy due to political disagreements within the Alliance. According to Reuters, among the reasons are resistance from the Donald Trump administration and dissatisfaction with the host country’s level of defense spending.
Sources say that the draft statement for the NATO summit, which will take place next week in Ankara, currently makes no mention of holding the next meeting in Albania, despite a previous announcement that it would take place there.
This move comes as European NATO members seek to demonstrate to Trump their progress in increasing defense spending and to avoid open disputes with him. Following a Reuters report in April that NATO might abandon its annual summits, uncertainty also arose regarding the Alliance’s summit in Albania. Such a move would reduce the risk of tense confrontations with Trump toward the end of his term.
A source at the agency noted that Albania’s level of defense spending is such that if NATO were to hold a summit in that country in 2027, Trump might become angry, which would provoke negative headlines in the media. A European diplomat noted that the latest version of the text states that the leaders are looking forward to their next meeting, though the time and place have not been specified.
Read also:
Turkey is considering selling Russian S-400 air defense systems to a third country in order to regain access to the purchase of American F-35 fighter jets, according to media reports.
The Turkish army has officially adopted the new TAYFUN Block-2 ballistic missiles. They can strike targets at a range of over 500 kilometers and are designed to strike key military targets deep behind enemy lines.
Millions of foreigners continue to reside in Turkey, with Syrians holding temporary protection status constituting the largest group. At the same time, the country reports that some refugees have been gradually returning to Syria in recent years.
