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 defence spending, Iran and the war in Ukraine.
asserted
NATO → scale → Ukraine
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Thursday (November 12, 2026) 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.
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it → say → Tirana
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the issue.
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Rutte → play → issue
“We are flexible with NATO summits,” he told The Associated Press in an interview.
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he → tell → interview
“We have summits when we need them,” he said, and will hold the next one “when a necessity is there.”
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necessity → have → one
Until about a decade ago, NATO held summits every two years.
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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.
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It → cut → Trump
NATO Defence Ministers usually meet in October, but no talks took place last month, and none are planned for October 2027.
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none → meet → October
Foreign Ministers only have one scheduled meeting next year, instead of two, under what NATO describes as a “reorganization package.”
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NATO → have → package
U.S. Defence 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.
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they → skip → office
Mr. Hegseth has used defence ministerial gatherings to berate or cajole European allies and Canada.
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Hegseth → use → allies
Questions about Albania's defence spending
The planned summit in Albania highlights the alliance's challenges.
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summit → plan → challenges
Albania was appointed next year's host in 2025, but its name was removed from a July summit declaration.
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name → appoint → declaration
Some allies believe that Albania is not spending enough on defence and they were reluctant to reward the country with NATO's big event.
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they → believe → event
The government in Tirana is projected to spend 2.15% of its gross domestic product on defense this year.
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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.
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allies → spend → infrastructure
Spain, Belgium and Slovenia are faring much worse.
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Spain → fare → ?
Summits drain resources and have political costs
But hosting a summit itself has tremendous financial and political costs.
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hosting → drain → costs
The Netherlands required a year of preparation ahead of the 2025 meeting in The Hague, and a roughly $100 million investment.
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Netherlands → require → investment
Officials said NATO would have needed to decide on Albania by October for it to have enough time to organize a summit next year.
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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.
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leaders → host → capital
Non-essential public workers were given a week off.
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workers → give → week
“There's always a lot of security involved,” Rutte told AP.
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Rutte → be → security
“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.”
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we → organize → Japan
Asked whether it was all worth it, Mr. Rutte said: “It is.”
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It → ask → it
The challenge of keeping leaders focused
The summit in Turkey was also a political spectacle.
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summit → keep → Turkey
It threatened to go off the rails even before Mr. Trump and his counterparts sat down to work.
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Trump → threaten → rails
Mr. 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.
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organization → revive → 1949
He also demanded “loyalty,” accusing NATO of failing to back his war on Iran.
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He → demand → Iran
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 Centre for European Policy Analysis think tank.
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Cattler → be → tank
“You could go two, maybe three years,” said Mr. 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.
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Russia → hold → Ukraine
The Aporia
