Reuters: NATO'S 2027 Albania summit may be cancelled

Plans for NATO to hold its next summit in Albania have been cast into uncertainty amid reported opposition from the Trump administration and concerns among alliance members over Tirana's defence spending levels, Reuters reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.

According to the sources, a draft communiqué for next week's NATO summit in Ankara makes no reference to Albania as the venue for the alliance's following summit, despite an earlier commitment that it would host the event.

The omission comes as European NATO members seek to demonstrate to US President Donald Trump that they are fulfilling defence spending commitments while avoiding potential disagreements during the Ankara gathering.

The uncertainty also follows a Reuters report in April that NATO has been weighing the possibility of abandoning its recent practice of holding annual summits, a step that could reduce the likelihood of future tensions with Trump.

One source said Albania's defence expenditure remained a concern and warned that hosting a summit there in 2027 could draw criticism from Trump and generate negative publicity.

Another European diplomat said the latest version of the draft statement simply says leaders look forward to meeting again without identifying either the location or the date of the next summit.

"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.

In recent years, NATO summit declarations have routinely identified the host country for the alliance's next meeting.

At last year's summit in The Hague, leaders stated: “We look forward to our next meeting in Türkiye in 2026, followed by a meeting ⁠in Albania.”

During the same summit, NATO members agreed to Trump's demand to increase defence-related spending to 5% of gross domestic product over the next decade.

Under the pledge, allies committed to allocating 3.5% of GDP to core defence spending, including military personnel and equipment, while dedicating an additional 1.5% to broader security measures such as cybersecurity.

Although defence budgets have risen across much of the alliance, several countries have continued to struggle to meet NATO's earlier target of spending 2% of GDP on defence.

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

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

In a statement to Reuters, Albania's government made it clear that ⁠it was "finalising 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”.

It added: "Once these measures are adopted in the coming few 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."

Despite the uncertainty, one European diplomat said Albania could still ultimately host the alliance's next 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."

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov