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NATO summit in Albania in doubt. Reuters reveals the reasons: Trump may be angry, because...

2026-06-30 22:08:04Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
NATO summit in Albania in doubt. Reuters reveals the reasons: Trump may be
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As NATO leaders prepare for next week's summit in Turkey, plans to hold the alliance's summit in Albania next year have been called into question, Reuters reports.

The reasons are reservations by the Trump administration and dissatisfaction among some NATO member states with Tirana's low level of defense spending, a NATO diplomat, a European official and three people familiar with the matter told Reuters .

According to these sources, the draft declaration for the NATO summit to be held next week in Ankara currently does not mention the upcoming meeting being held in Albania, despite a previous statement predicting that it would be held there.

The move comes as European NATO members seek to show US President Donald Trump in Ankara that they have made progress on defence spending pledges and have avoided open clashes with the American leader.

The uncertainty over the fate of the alliance summit in Albania comes after reports in April that NATO was considering ending its recent practice of holding annual summits.

One of the people familiar with the discussions said that Albania's defense spending is such that if NATO holds a summit in Tirana in 2027, Trump could be angry, provoking negative headlines.

"Drafts are drafts, not decisions," an Albanian government spokesman told Reuters when asked about the omission in the draft declaration, which is under negotiation and could change.

The White House declined to comment.

A NATO official said they had no immediate comment.

Earlier, at a summit held in The Hague, alliance leaders had stated that they "look forward to the next meeting in Turkey in 2026 and then in Albania", while agreeing on the objective of increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP within a decade.

Under the agreement, 3.5% of GDP will go to basic defense, while 1.5% will go to related areas such as cybersecurity and infrastructure. However, some member states have yet to reach the previous target of 2% of GDP.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that most allies are close to this level, but some countries, including Albania in recent years, have been below the threshold, promising gradual improvement.

The Albanian government, in a statement to Reuters, said it is finalizing fiscal measures to align defense spending with NATO commitments, aiming to reach 2.6% of GDP by 2026, where 2.2% will be core defense spending and 0.4% for other security-related spending.

Despite the current uncertainty, a European diplomat stressed that Albania could still host the summit, adding: "They are increasing capacities, we will see how it ends. I still believe that the next summit will be in Albania."


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