Ministers of Foreign Affairs from NATO are set to convene this Wednesday evening in Antalya, Turkey, for a significant round of high-level discussions ahead of the upcoming NATO summit scheduled for June.
The event, which will span two days, will be hosted by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and is anticipated to center on defense expenditures and the future of European security.
At next month’s summit in The Hague, NATO leaders are expected to agree on a new spending target, following repeated calls from U.S. President Donald Trump for other NATO allies to substantially increase their defense budgets.
Currently, NATO members are committed to spending at least 2% of their GDP, though several nations are spending below this benchmark.
European NATO allies are also grappling with the repercussions of the U.S. administration’s reduced support for Ukraine since Trump’s return to office, further impacting the European security framework.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced his plans to travel to Turkey for the meeting.
NATO Foreign Ministers are expected to begin their consultations with a dinner meeting this evening before resuming discussions on Thursday morning.