NATO deputy chief urges spending, unity at Turkey summit
SkimNews Take
NATO unity is now partly a performance deliverable — the alliance measures success by how convincingly it projects cohesion amid US unpredictability, making summit signaling as consequential as the spending commitments themselves.
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- Air Chief Marshal John Stringer, NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told AP he wants the July 7-8 Ankara summit to spur more defense spending, reaffirm Ukraine support, and underline alliance unity — conceding NATO is in one of its periodic 'turbulent moments.'
- Trump has sent conflicting signals on US force posture in Europe, threatened to leave NATO, pushed to annex Greenland, and flattered Putin; in May he ordered 5,000 US troops pulled from Europe only to send 5,000 to Poland weeks later.
- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a surprise six-month review of American forces in Europe and lambasted allies for refusing to allow use of their bases to attack Iran.
- Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey resigned earlier this month, saying the government's spending plan would only reach 2.68% of GDP by 2030 — well below the 3.5% of GDP target NATO members agreed to at last year's summit.
- Stringer said European members are largely stepping up (with the notable exception of Spain), with some countries quadrupling production of 155mm artillery shells to build a 'really credible force' against Russia.
- Maj. Gen. Indrek Sirel of Estonia said it remains unclear how US forces will be positioned in the Baltic states, while Stringer conceded that replacing US long-range strike and surveillance capabilities would require a 'cocktail' of alternative systems since only the US operates B1 and B52 bombers.
- Finnish Brig. Gen. Jyri Raitasalo warned the summit must go beyond 'communiques, road maps and action plans' and deliver deterrence through deeds, saying NATO's credibility is at stake if members fail to translate promises into action.
Why it matters: The Ankara summit will test whether NATO's 32 members can convert last year's 3.5% GDP defense spending pledge into concrete capability commitments while managing uncertainty over the US military's role in Europe. With a six-month review of American forces underway, allies like Britain missing spending targets, and the alliance's eastern flank facing a growing Russian threat, credibility — not just unity optics — is what members say is on the line.
