NATO Summit 2023 

In News: NATO Summit 2023

• The 2023 NATO summit took place in July 2023, in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
  • The 2022 summit was held in Madrid, Spain.
• The participating leaders discussed the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as Ukraine and Sweden’s prospective memberships into NATO.

Key Outcomes Of The NATO Summit 2023

• New forum for deepening ties with Ukraine
  • NATO leaders launched a new forum for deepening ties with Ukraine, known as the NATO-Ukraine Council.
  • This council is intended to serve as a permanent body where the alliance’s 31 members and Ukraine can hold consultations and call for meetings in emergency situations.
  • The setting is part of NATO’s effort to bring Ukraine as close as possible to the military alliance without actually joining it.
• No clear path for Ukraine’s membership in NATO
  • The summit did not provide a firm timeline for when the Ukrainians will become official members.
  • In their communique summarising the summit’s conclusions, the leaders said that Ukraine can join when allies agree and conditions are met.
    • Experts say that quick admittance of Ukraine to NATO could potentially increase Russian aggression and drag out the war even farther.
    • Hence, the membership of Ukraine is being delayed.
• Membership of Sweden
  • Recently, Turkey withdrew its objections to Sweden joining the alliance.
  • This paves ways for Sweden to join the alliance as the new entries must be approved by all existing members.
    • NATO had formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance at Madrid summit held in 2022.
    • However, Turkey had raised objection regarding the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO.
    • Turkey, which has been a member of NATO since 1952, had repeatedly opposed Finland and Sweden’s entry.
    • It accused the two Nordic countries of supporting Kurdish militant groups which it deems to be terrorist organizations.
    • In March 2023, Tukey withdrew its objection to Finland and later, in April 2023, Finland became the 31st member of grouping.