NATO allies reaffirmed their commitment to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty and announced the creation of a modernized alliance with a strong European component.
This is enshrined in the first paragraph of the Declaration adopted following the NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkey.
"We, the Heads of State and Government of the North Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in Ankara to reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our collective defence under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty and to the transatlantic bond. An attack on one is an attack on all. Our unity, solidarity and collective strength remain the foundation of peace, security, and prosperity for the one billion citizens in our Alliance of free and democratic nations. We remain committed to our 360-degree approach to deterrence and defence," the declaration states.
The leaders of NATO member countries expressed their conviction that "a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO – a modernised Alliance." "European Allies and Canada, working with the United States, are assuming greater responsibility for the Alliance’s defence," the declaration reads.
The leaders noted that the Alliance’s deterrence and defense "rest on an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities, complemented by space and cyber assets."
"We are committed to maintaining our combat advantage. We are investing in our ability to deploy, enable and sustain our armed forces and deliver our capability targets in all domains, including in deep precision strike, integrated air and missile defence, uncrewed systems, cutting edge technologies, and intelligence capabilities. We are developing an interoperable transatlantic warfighting cloud and adopting powerful AI models," the document reads.
In the declaration, the allies also noted that the Alliance "continues to respond and adapt to the strategic competition, pervasive instability, hybrid threats and recurrent shocks that define our broader security environment." "Allies reiterate that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon and call on Iran to fully respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," the document reads.
At the same time, the allies did not confirm that next year’s summit will be held in Albania, as had been decided at the summit in The Hague. Instead, the final paragraph states that the allies expressed their gratitude to Turkey "for the generous hospitality extended to us by Türkiye. We look forward to our next meeting."
