Nato leaders will have much to celebrate when they gather in Washington for the alliance’s 75th anniversary this week. Sweden will be welcomed to its first summit as a Nato ally. The leaders will also note progress on defence budgets – in 2024, 23 of the 32 allies will meet Nato’s target of spending 2% of their GDP on defence.
The summit will be the last for the alliance’s long-serving secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. The well-qualified Mark Rutte, former prime minister of the Netherlands, will move into his office in October.
Stoltenberg has indicated the summit will have three main topics: Ukraine, deterrence and defence, and global partnerships. Each was a priority at the Vilnius summit 12 months ago. Washington will, according to former Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu, be a “consolidation summit”.
