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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The final statement of the NATO Summit did not mention Albania as a host country in 2027, but Secretary General Mark Rutte clarified that the decision on Tirana remains in force. However, following Donald Trump's statement from Ankara, it remains unclear whether the US president will be present.
For a few hours, it seemed that Albania had lost the biggest diplomatic bet of recent years.
The final statement of the NATO Summit in Ankara contained no reference to Tirana as the host of the next Alliance summit. An absence that gave strength to reports in recent weeks that the organization of the summit in Albania was seriously questioned.
But at the end of the summit came the clarification of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
" The next summit will be held in Albania. This was the decision of The Hague. The summit will be held in Albania, but we will have to decide on the time ," Rutte declared at the press conference.
His statement puts an end, at least for the moment, to speculation that Tirana had been stripped of its right to host the summit. However, it leaves open one important element: the date is no longer set.
Until a few months ago, the target was 2027. Now, according to the NATO head himself, it remains to be decided when the summit will take place in Albania.
This is not a small matter.
Reports by Reuters, Radio Free Europe and other international media had raised suspicions that Albania's absence from the draft declaration was related to the dissatisfaction of some allies with the level of Albanian defense spending, as well as discussions within NATO to no longer hold summits every year.
The organization of the NATO Summit in Tirana has become one of the successes that Edi Rama has promoted the most in foreign policy for months. The Prime Minister has stated several times that US President Donald Trump would also participate in this summit.
But this is where another question arises.
Just a day ago, from Ankara, Trump hinted that he is not at all enthusiastic about NATO summits.
" I was very disappointed with NATO and, frankly, if the summit had not been held in Turkey, where my friend is a very strong leader, I probably would not have attended, " the US president declared, attributing his presence in Ankara to his personal relationship with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The statement was interpreted as a signal that Trump's participation in future Alliance summits is by no means guaranteed.
This means that, although Mark Rutte confirmed that the summit will take place in Albania, two of the elements on which the Albanian government's narrative was built still remain unclear: when the summit will be held and whether Donald Trump will be present.
For Edi Rama, the news from Ankara is a relief, but not a complete victory. The summit does not seem to have been removed from Tirana, but it no longer has the guarantee it had a year ago. And above all, Donald Trump's much-talked-about visit to Albania still remains a question mark. /Pamphlet
Rutte eshte blere me kohe e me vakt