ABOUT NATO'S 2025 SUMMIT MEETING

NATO summits, held annually in various cities around the world, are essentially the highest-level meetings of NATO's political decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, held at the Heads of State and Government level. Summits are of significant political importance. Discussions at these meetings generally address issues of broad political and strategic importance.

This year, the thirty-fifth NATO Summit Meetings took place in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24-25. This meeting, which brought together thirty two members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the heads of state and government of the European Union (EU), resulted in the issuance of important declarations. Officially known as the "Hague Summit Declaration," these declarations are as follows:

1. Member States reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to NATO's Article 5: collective defence.                                                                                                                                                           

2. All member states agreed to a new 5% defense spending target, stating that Russia and terrorism are long-term threats to the alliance.                                                                                                  

3. The new 5% commitment will be for ‘basic defence’, with 3.5% allocated to the basic defence needs of allied armies and 1.5% to defence and security-related spending in areas such as critical infrastructure protection. This will include any support provided to Ukraine, as Ukraine’s security contributes to the security of the alliance and will also control progress in 2029.                        

4. Member states will work to eliminate barriers to defence trade.                                                                

5. The next NATO summit will be held in Turkey, and the one after that will be held in Albania.

One of the most important issues at the summit was that member countries committed to investing 5% of their Gross Domestic Product annually in defense by 2035. This amount is a significant increase from the 2% defense investment committed by the allies in 2014.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and welcomed the ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war, "achieved through the efforts of US President Trump." US President Trump expressed satisfaction with the agreement, which met his long-standing demand for increased European defense contributions.

The summit process went smoothly and concluded successfully, and the NATO Summit is planned to be held in Turkey in 2026.

NEWS SOURCE: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_50115.htm