Author: Maanvi Chawla, CGP Summer Intern

This was a momentous summit for NATO. Not only did their membership grow by two, but Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea participated in a NATO summit for the first time, highlighting the increased urgency felt by the Allied leaders and their key partners. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also joined the summit via a video link and urged the member states to provide more aid to his country to support their efforts against Russia. 

So what were the main outcomes from this summit?

•  Finland and Sweden were officially invited to become NATO members,

• The announcement of a Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, and new support packages for other partners at risk, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova.

• The endorsement of a New Strategic Concept, which serves as NATO”s guiding document and identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to Allied security and addresses China for the first time.  

• Reaffirmed commitment to spending at least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024 and provide more common funding for NATO. 

• Support for the NATO Force Model, that will deliver an Allied Response at a much greater scale and improve the readiness of the NATO forces. 

• A commitment to a collective defence and to upholding the international order. 

• An agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions by NATO as an organisation by at least 45 per cent by 2030, and down to net zero by 2050.

• The launch of the NATO Innovation Fund, which will invest EUR 1 billion over the next 15 years in start-ups developing dual-use emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence. 

The full Summit Declaration can be read here. The next NATO summit will be hosted by Lithuania in 2023 in Vilnius. 

Image Courtesy of NATO