BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 18. NATO Ankara summit to focus on delivery of commitments, NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska, said during a panel discussion at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye, Trend reports.
According to her, while the Hague summit demonstrated political commitment, the upcoming summit in Ankara must focus on implementation.
“If The Hague was the summit that was supposed to show our commitment—and it did—Ankara is the summit that needs to show our delivery,” she said.
Shekerinska noted that reaching agreement among all 32 allies on key decisions was not easy.
“Having a decision by all 32 allies, with different political circumstances and priorities, agreeing that collective security is our key goal and committing to a significant, historic, unprecedented increase in defense spending was not an easy feat,” she said.
She emphasized that current threats require decisive action.
“The threats that we are faced with do not allow for flexibility or delays—they require decisive action,” Shekerinska added.
According to her, allies have already begun to deliver on their commitments.
“What we see is that European allies and Canada are stepping up,” she noted, highlighting that countries such as Lithuania and Latvia have significantly increased defense spending, while Germany has made a “dramatic difference” by doubling its defense budget.
She also stressed the importance of strengthening defense production and industrial cooperation.
“This is not only about money. We need increased production, stronger cooperation between companies, and shorter delivery times,” she said.
Shekerinska added that industry is responding to these demands.
“Industry is stepping up, increasing production and cooperation to maintain a strong transatlantic defense industrial base,” she noted.