Analysts say Ankara summit shows NATO unity fragile as divisions persist over defense spending, approaches to Iran conflict
ANKARA, July 8 (Xinhua) — The two-day NATO summit concluded here on Wednesday with alliance leaders portraying the gathering as a demonstration of unity.
Analysts, however, have said it did not resolve the longstanding disagreements among NATO member states, with European countries likely to accelerate efforts toward greater strategic autonomy.
The summit took place against a backdrop of persistent tensions within the alliance, particularly over defense spending, burden-sharing and diverging approaches to the Iran conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the summit, reiterated Tuesday that he is “very disappointed” with the alliance, claiming some NATO members refused to support key U.S. military objectives.
“The summit did not remove the factions within NATO. Instead, it compartmentalized them,” Ali Oguz Dirioz, associate professor of International Relations at Ankara’s TOBB University, told Xinhua.
“Divisions remain, but member states are learning to live with those differences,” he said.
Dirioz said a significant trend emerging from the summit is Europe’s gradual movement toward greater strategic autonomy within the alliance, driven partly by longstanding U.S. demands for fairer burden-sharing.
“European countries within NATO are likely to evolve toward a more autonomous defense posture because of Washington’s persistent criticism over burden-sharing,” he said.
Oytun Orhan, senior researcher at the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Studies, said NATO leaders projected unity during the summit, but underlying disagreements remain largely unresolved.
“NATO leaders demonstrated solidarity, but most of the alliance’s internal problems still appear to be intact,” Orhan said.
He noted that differences surfaced at the summit, citing Trump’s criticism of Spain over defense spending and his threat of trade measures against Madrid.
For quite some time, Washington has been pressuring NATO member states to raise defense spending targets from the long-standing 2 percent of gross domestic product to 5 percent.
For many NATO members, particularly those “with more fragile economies,” meeting the new targets “represents a very serious challenge,” Orhan said, adding that “this debate is likely to continue.”
On the question of European strategic autonomy, Orhan said that “there is a clear intention for Europe to become more independent from the United States.”
“However, whether Europe can achieve greater autonomy without weakening its operational military capabilities remains uncertain. The political will exists, but the outcome is still unclear,” he said.
