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Official documents place Albania at 2.6% of GDP on defense in 2026, while Reuters reports that the Trump administration and negotiations within NATO have opened a debate on organizing the 2027 summit in Tirana...
Albania is presented as one of the NATO countries that is increasing its contribution to collective defense, at a time when the United States is seeking greater commitment from allies.
During an interview with Fox News , US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker released a chart showing the military spending of alliance countries for the period 2014–2025.
Albania is among the five countries with the lowest military budget in NATO, with $570.3 million. Also on the same list are Montenegro ($173.8 million), North Macedonia ($357.8 million), Luxembourg ($1.4 billion) and Estonia ($1.5 billion).
On the other hand, the US dominates with $980 billion, followed by the United Kingdom (90.5 billion), France (66.5 billion), Italy (48.8 billion) and Poland (44.3 billion).
The chart published during the US ambassador's interview does not list Albania among the countries with the highest military spending, but includes it among the allies that contribute to collective defense. The absolute value of the budget is low due to the size of the Albanian economy, while the assessment of the fulfillment of NATO objectives is made on the basis of the percentage of GDP, where Albania declares that it reaches 2.6% for 2026.
Whitaker stressed the importance of the practical contribution of allies.
" I think most of our allies, in fact all of our allies in NATO, are providing us with the bases, access and air support that we need ," he declared.
The statement comes as the US administration is conducting a broad review of its military presence in Europe, analyzing not only the deployment of troops and bases, but also the level of cooperation with allied countries.
According to the recently approved 2026 Budget Normative Act, Albania's total defense spending amounts to 2.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while 2.2% of GDP is dedicated to core defense spending, above the minimum threshold of 2% set by NATO.
The document also foresees the addition of 300 new military personnel and an increase of 10.3 billion lek for investments and operations in the defense sector.
However, despite this data, Reuters reports that the possibility of Albania hosting the NATO summit in 2027 has been discussed during alliance negotiations.
A draft statement for next week's NATO summit in Ankara no longer mentions Albania as the host country for the next summit, unlike previous alliance statements, according to the agency. The information was confirmed to Reuters by a NATO diplomat, a European official and three other people familiar with the talks.
Instead, the draft states that NATO leaders "look forward" to the next meeting, without specifying a location or date.
Reuters reports that this issue is related to efforts by European allies to show US President Donald Trump that they are progressing towards new defense spending targets, with the aim of avoiding public disagreements during the Ankara summit.
A source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that Albania's current level of defense spending could be seen as insufficient by the US administration if the 2027 summit is held in Tirana, creating negative publicity.
On the other hand, the Albanian government told Reuters that the drafts do not constitute final decisions and that negotiations are still ongoing.
The White House did not comment on the report, while a NATO official said the alliance had no immediate reaction.
At the NATO summit in The Hague, member countries agreed to target 5% of GDP for defense and related measures within ten years. Of this, 3.5% should go to core military needs and 1.5% to other security areas, such as cyber defense.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said earlier that almost all allies have reached the 2% of GDP threshold. He noted that Albania, the Czech Republic and Slovenia had not met this target last year, but had committed to exceeding it by 2026.
The Albanian government told Reuters it is finalizing fiscal measures that will bring the overall level of defense and security spending to 2.6% of GDP, including 2.2% for core defense spending and 0.4% for other security-related spending.
Despite the debate, a European diplomat told Reuters that the possibility of Albania hosting the NATO summit in 2027 remains open.
" They are increasing the pressure; we will see where it ends ," the diplomat is quoted as saying. / Pamphlet /
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