Next NATO summit in Albania in doubt amid US reluctance and low defence spending

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON/TIRANA, June 30 - As NATO leaders prepare for a summit in Turkey next week, plans for an alliance summit in Albania next year have been thrown into doubt due to resistance from the Trump administration and dissatisfaction among NATO members with Tirana's low defence spending, a NATO diplomat, European official and three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A draft statement for next week’s NATO summit in Ankara does not currently mention holding the next gathering in Albania, despite a previous declaration that it would take place there, the people said.

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

The uncertainty over the fate of the alliance’s Albania summit also comes after Reuters reported in April that NATO is considering ending its recent practice of holding annual summits, a move that could avoid a potentially tense encounter with Trump later in his term.

One of the people familiar with the discussions said Albania’s defence spending is such that if NATO holds a summit in the country in 2027, Trump may get upset, provoking negative headlines.

A European diplomat said the latest version of the text notes leaders look forward to their next meeting, without specifying a time or place.

"Drafts are drafts, not decisions,” an Albanian government spokesperson told Reuters when asked about the omission in the draft statement, which is under negotiation and subject to change.

The White House declined to comment. A NATO official said they had no immediate comment.

SPOTLIGHT ON DEFENCE SPENDING

In recent years, official statements at NATO summits have typically made explicit reference to the location of the subsequent summit.

At a summit in the Hague last year, leaders said in their statement that “we look forward to our next meeting in Turkey in 2026 followed by a meeting in Albania.”

At the same summit, NATO leaders responded to Trump’s demands by pledging to spend 5% of GDP on defence and defence-related measures within a decade.

Countries promised to spend 3.5% of GDP on core defence - such as troops and weapons - and 1.5% on broader defence-related measures such as cybersecurity.

But while many NATO countries have increased their defence budgets over the past months, some countries have struggled to even meet the alliance’s previous goal of spending 2% of GDP on defence.

"When you look at all 2%, almost all Allies are on 2%,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in a press conference earlier this month.

"Last year, Albania, Czechia, Slovenia were not but they have clearly committed to reach more than 2% this year. And then these three countries, when you look at the overall picture, it is a really small number,” he said.

ALBANIA PLANS MEASURES TO ALIGN WITH NATO PLEDGE

Albania’s government said in a statement to Reuters it was "finalizing the necessary fiscal measures to align Albania's 2026 defence and defence-related expenditure with the trajectory agreed by NATO Allies at the Hague Summit”.

"Once these measures are adopted in the few coming days, Albania's defence and defence-related expenditure for 2026 will amount to 2.6% of GDP, in accordance with NATO's defence Expenditure Methodology. Of this, 2.2% of GDP represents core defence expenditure, while 0.4% of GDP represents other defence and security-related expenditure,” it added.

A European diplomat said Albania could ultimately still host a summit.

"They are ramping up, we shall see where it lands," the diplomat said, adding: "I still believe the next summit will be in Albania." REUTERS