Description: Leaders from the 32 – member transatlantic Alliance met in the Hague for the NATO Summit which focused on increased defense spending and the unraveling crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. US President Donald Trump also attended the Summit where he received guarantees from Secretary General Mark Rutte that all of NATO would commit up to 5% of their GDP towards advancing defense efforts within the Alliance. Turkey managed to steal the spotlight receiving praise from Rutte and UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer for their input in mediating current crises as well as their rapidly developing defense sector which has become a flashpoint for European countries. The defense commitments were met with some stiff opposition as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent a request to Rutte for his country to be excluded from the obligatory requirement, with Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico also supported the initiative. During the two – day Summit, the US President is set to meet Ukraine’s Volodymir Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the event, to discuss recent developments in the war with Russia, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with whom he already talked about the war between Israel and Iran.
Impact: Divisions and larger dissolution was outlined between the members of the Alliance, while the Secretary General in the name of NATO emphasized how integral the role of the US is in NATO’s joint defensive efforts. The Summit served as a stark reminder that Europe is still exploring its political and diplomatic compass, as was shown through strong disagreements over the obligations related to the defense spending. The Summit further emphasized Turkey’s pivotal role in the Alliance and the country’s recent assertion as a defense industry manufacturing and developing hub and a pioneer in campaigning diplomatic efforts such as the one between Russia and Ukraine. There is no significant emergence of a clear strategic path which would see the Alliance tackling the expeditiously developing geopolitical issues, however, the Summit remains as one of the more important events where world leaders could directly address troubling differences and challenge global issues.