Leaders of NATO countries are flying to the summit in Vilnius
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US President Joe Biden flew to Lithuania, where a summit of NATO member states will be held on July 11-12. Planes of other heads of state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization also land at the Vilnius airport. The main topic of the summit will be the continuation of military and humanitarian support by NATO countries to Ukraine and the prospect of its joining the organization.
In addition, one of the important issues will be Sweden’s accession to NATO. Earlier, the neutral country announced its desire to join NATO shortly after the start of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Now Turkey and Hungary are blocking its entry into the Union. Ankara claims that Sweden is not fulfilling its international obligations because it gives political asylum to Kurdish oppositionists, whom Turkey considers terrorists and demands their extradition. In addition, street actions are taking place in Sweden, which, according to Ankara, are offensive to Muslims.
Speaking before the trip to the summit in Vilnius, Erdogan said that Ankara will not give up on its demands. In addition, he said, the European Union must open the way for Turkey to join before the Turkish parliament approves the Swedish application.
As Reuters reports, NATO countries on Monday, that is, even before the official start of the summit, reached an agreement on a possible military response to a hypothetical attack from Russia. Their plans include an increase in military budgets, an increase in armaments, and the support of weaker countries by stronger members of the alliance.
According to NATO leaders, each participating country should increase its military budget to at least 2% of GDP. As noted in the organization, the implementation of this plan may take several years. At the same time, they emphasize, the entire North Atlantic Alliance must be ready for an immediate response to possible aggression. This is the first case of such large-scale defense plans since the Cold War.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Bloomberg, will arrive at the summit on Wednesday, July 12.
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