Countdown to the NATO Summit in The Hague: priorities and expectations in 2025
NATO leaders will meet in The Hague on June 24-25, 2025. Over seventy-five years on, NATO remains relevant to European and Euro-Atlantic security. NATO leaders will discuss the future of the Alliance amidst multiple security crises both near and far. Russia’s illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine is now in its fourth year, with ceasefire efforts so far falling flat. Israel continues to battle Hamas in Gaza even while trading blows with Iran. China tacitly supports Russian aggression while ramping up its military and destabilising the Indo-Pacific region. And, inside NATO, illiberal and isolationist forces are chipping away at its unity. Nevertheless, NATO has a significant and instrumental role in determining how the Western liberal order survives, and in shaping the urgently needed revamp of security and deterrence in its European core.
In this year’s EPC NATO Compendium, 18 authors discuss and analyse the key issues to be addressed in the Summit’s priorities, including: The obstacles to, and benefits of Ukrainian accession to NATO; the meaning behind ‘the figure’ of spending 5% of GDP on defence; securing NATO’s periphery - both north, east, and south; how to deal with a transactional US administration; priorities for European defence investment; and recommended outcomes. This year’s NATO Summit comes at a challenging time for the Alliance, but one thing remains clear: NATO continues to be the central pillar of transatlantic defence cooperation and remains an essential component of European security.
