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Trump and allies 'put a visa' on Albania? Reuters: Government is risking NATO Summit

Politiko 2026-06-30 21:30:33

Trump and allies 'put a visa' on Albania? Reuters: Government is

Plans for Albania to host the next NATO summit have been called into question. According to a Reuters report , the administration of US President Donald Trump and some of the Alliance's member states have expressed reservations about holding the summit in Tirana, mainly due to the country's low level of defense spending.

The international agency, citing a NATO diplomat, a European official and three sources familiar with the discussions, reports that the draft declaration for the summit to be held next week in Ankara no longer mentions Albania as the host country of the next summit, although this was foreseen in the declaration adopted at the Hague summit.

According to sources, this move is related to the efforts of European allies to avoid tensions with President Donald Trump, who has consistently demanded significant increases in defense spending by member countries.

One of the people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that Albania's current level of defense investment could cause discontent in Trump if the summit is held in Tirana, leading to negative media coverage.

In the latest version of the draft declaration, NATO leaders only express their expectation for the next meeting, without mentioning the location or date of its organization.

Asked by Reuters, an Albanian government spokesman downplayed the significance of this change, stating that "projects are projects, not decisions," while emphasizing that the document is still in the negotiation phase and could change.

The report recalls that at the Hague summit, allies agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP within ten years. Meanwhile, Albania was one of the countries that had not yet reached the minimum target of 2% of GDP.

However, the Albanian government told Reuters that it is finalizing fiscal measures that will bring the defense and security budget to 2.6% of GDP by 2026 , in line with NATO's methodology.

Despite the uncertainties, a European diplomat expressed optimism that Albania could still remain the host country of the summit.

"They are increasing the costs. We will see where this ends, but I still believe that the next summit will be held in Albania," he told Reuters.

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