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Plans for Albania to host the 2027 NATO summit have been thrown into doubt by Trump administration opposition and alliance-wide concerns over Tirana's defense spending, Reuters reported, citing officials and people familiar with the matter.
A draft statement being negotiated for next week's NATO summit in Ankara does not mention Albania as the venue for the alliance's subsequent gathering, despite an earlier NATO declaration that the country would host the meeting, according to a NATO diplomat, a European official and three other people familiar with the matter.
The draft instead says NATO leaders look forward to their next meeting without specifying a date or location, a European diplomat told Reuters.
The omission comes as European NATO members seek to demonstrate to U.S. President Donald Trump that they are making progress toward increased defense spending commitments and hope to avoid public disagreements during the Ankara summit.
One person familiar with the talks said Albania's current level of defense spending could anger Trump if the alliance holds its 2027 summit in the country, potentially generating negative publicity.
"Drafts are drafts, not decisions," an Albanian government spokesperson told Reuters, noting that the statement remained under negotiation and could still be changed.
The White House declined to comment, while a NATO official said the alliance had no immediate comment, Reuters reported.
NATO summit statements in recent years have generally identified the location of the alliance's next gathering.
At the NATO summit in the Hague last year, alliance leaders said they looked forward to meeting in Türkiye in 2026, followed by a meeting in Albania.
During the same summit, NATO members agreed to spend 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense and defense-related measures within 10 years in response to demands from Trump.
Under the pledge, members committed to spending 3.5% of GDP on core military requirements, including troops and weapons, and another 1.5% on broader defense-related measures such as cybersecurity.
Although many NATO members have increased military spending in recent months, some have struggled to meet the alliance's previous target of spending 2% of GDP on defense.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said earlier this month that almost all allies had reached the 2% level.
He said Albania, Czechia and Slovenia had fallen short last year but had committed to exceeding 2% in 2026.
The Albanian government told Reuters it was finalizing fiscal measures intended to bring its 2026 defense and security spending in line with the trajectory agreed by NATO members at the Hague summit.
Once the measures are adopted, Albania expects its total defense and defense-related spending to reach 2.6% of GDP in 2026, according to the government.
Of that total, 2.2% of GDP would be allocated to core defense spending and 0.4% to other defense and security-related expenditure.
Despite the uncertainty, a European diplomat said Albania could still ultimately host the summit.
"They are ramping up, we shall see where it lands," the diplomat told Reuters, adding that the next summit could still take place in Albania.
The uncertainty over the summit comes as protesters in Albania continue demonstrations against a proposed luxury tourism project that local media has linked to Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.
Since late May, protesters have gathered regularly to oppose the planned development in a nature reserve on Albania's coast.
Demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime, known as SPAK, in Tirana on Wednesday to protest the alleged sale of a beach in Zvernec for the project.
Albanian media reports have linked the proposed development to Kushner and Trump, though Prime Minister Edi Rama told CNN that claims the Zvernec project belonged to the Trump family were false.
Media reports said the Special Prosecution Office had opened an investigation into the project.
The demonstrations began May 30 and have drawn thousands of people. Police used water cannons against protesters on the fourth day of the rallies.
The project is estimated to cost $4 billion.
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