NATO Summit in Albania in question, US ambassador: You have benefited at the expense of our taxpayers

Albania's position as host of next year's NATO summit has been called into question due to the alliance's failure to meet its objectives for increasing defense spending.

Euronews writes that the draft declaration of the upcoming summit in Ankara no longer includes Albania as the organizer of the next meeting, a signal that is considered by NATO sources as a message of pressure on Tirana to accelerate the increase in military investments.

Currently, Albania remains well below the alliance's new target of 5% of GDP, raising concerns among strategic partners.

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Albania's position as host of next year's NATO summit has been called into question due to the country's failure to meet key defense spending targets.

Euronews previously reported that the draft declaration for the NATO summit, to be held next week in Ankara, no longer mentions hosting the upcoming summit in Albania, although this had been previously announced.

The non-inclusion of Albania in the final declaration is considered a deliberate move by NATO officials to exert pressure on Tirana.

A NATO source confirmed on Wednesday that the situation has not changed and that the alliance is sending "a strong message" to Tirana:

Albania may lose the right to host the summit if it does not increase defense spending.

The 5% GDP target

At last year's summit in The Hague, NATO member countries agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2035.

However, Albania currently spends around 1.49% of GDP, falling far short of even NATO's previous target of 2%.

Albania is not alone.

Slovenia and the Czech Republic have also been identified as countries that have not done enough to strengthen collective defense.

Although NATO's 2025 report presented these two countries as having reached the 2% threshold, NATO sources told Euronews that these figures were not accurate.

US criticism

The United States has repeatedly criticized allies that, according to them, do not invest enough in defense.

Washington is seeking evidence that countries are on a credible path toward achieving the 5% target within the agreed timeframe.

US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, told reporters on Wednesday: "European countries can no longer continue to benefit for free from the defense architecture."

He added that there has been: "...benefit at the expense of American taxpayers, which has occurred from several NATO alliance countries."

Ankara Summit

All 32 NATO member countries will gather in Ankara for the annual summit, taking place from July 7 to 9.

US President Donald Trump has confirmed his participation, as has US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The summit will also be attended by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as the leaders of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.