Analysts: Ankara Summit Reflects Fragile NATO Unity
Ankara (ANTARA) - The two-day NATO summit officially concluded in Ankara on Wednesday (8 July), with alliance leaders describing the gathering as an embodiment of unity.
Nevertheless, analysts said the summit did not resolve long-standing disputes among NATO member states, with European countries likely to accelerate efforts towards greater strategic autonomy.
The summit was held amid continuing tensions within the alliance, particularly over defence spending, burden sharing, and differing approaches to the Iranian conflict.
On the sidelines of the summit, US President Donald Trump reiterated on Tuesday (7 July) that he was “very disappointed” with the alliance, claiming that several NATO members refused to support key US military objectives.
“The summit did not eliminate the differences within NATO. On the contrary, it merely confined those differences to certain issues,” Ali Oguz Dirioz, associate professor of International Relations at TOBB University of Ankara, told Xinhua.
“The divisions remain, but member states are learning to live alongside those differences,” he said.
Dirioz said one important trend to emerge from the summit was Europe’s step-by-step movement towards greater strategic autonomy within the alliance, driven in part by long-standing US demands for fairer burden sharing.
“European countries within NATO are likely to develop a more autonomous defence posture because of Washington’s continual criticism regarding burden sharing,” he said.
Oytun Orhan, a senior researcher at the Ankara-based Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, said NATO leaders demonstrated unity during the summit, but a number of fundamental differences remained largely unresolved.
“NATO leaders showed solidarity, but most of the alliance’s internal problems appear to remain in place,” Orhan said.
He said various disagreements surfaced during the summit, citing Trump’s criticism of Spain over defence spending as well as his threat to apply trade measures against Madrid.
Washington has long pressed NATO member states to raise the defence spending target from the long-standing standard of 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 5 per cent.
For many NATO members, especially those “with more fragile economies,” meeting the new target “is a very serious challenge,” Orhan said, adding that “this debate is likely to continue.”
On the question of European strategic autonomy, Orhan said “there is a clear intention from Europe to become more independent of the US.”
“However, whether Europe can achieve greater autonomy without weakening its military operational capability remains uncertain. The political will exists, but the final outcome is still unclear,” he added.