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The Hague Summit is expected to confirm Albania as host of the NATO summit in 2027.

2025-06-19 20:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Hague Summit is expected to confirm Albania as host of the NATO summit in

Next week's summit in The Hague is expected to confirm Albania as the host of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, summit in 2027.

The draft statement from this year's NATO summit, which Radio Free Europe has seen, confirms that Albania will host in 2027.

This year's NATO summit is being held in The Hague, Netherlands, next week, while the 2026 summit will be held in Turkey.

At the end of the draft statement it says: "We express our gratitude for the warm hospitality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We look forward to our next meeting in Turkey in 2026, which will be followed by a meeting in Albania."

According to the draft declaration, NATO leaders reaffirm their commitment to collective defense under Article 5 and their determination to protect citizens and democracy. They pledge to increase defense spending to at least 5 percent of GDP by 2032 – 3.5 percent for military capabilities and 1.5 percent for critical infrastructure, innovation and the defense industry.

Support for Ukraine remains strong and will be included in defense spending calculations. The alliance also commits to strengthening the common defense industry, removing trade barriers and promoting technological cooperation among allies, according to the draft statement.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama – who won his fourth term last month – had announced last summer that Albania would welcome the NATO summit in 2027.

The Albanian capital, Tirana, hosted an important meeting this year, as it brought together major European leaders for the European Political Community summit in May.

Albania has been part of NATO since 2009 and this will be the first time it hosts its summit.

NATO has an air base in Albania, namely in Kuçovë, the only one in the Western Balkans region.

It was inaugurated in March 2024, after NATO invested approximately 50 million euros in it, while the Albanian Government spent more than 5 million euros.

Albania is also in talks with NATO about building a naval base in Porto Romano on the Adriatic coast./ REL