Fidan: Trump's Participation Was NATO Summit's Toughest Hurdle

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has described securing former U.S. President Donald Trump's participation as the most difficult hurdle in the lead-up to the NATO Summit. Speaking at an event in Ankara focused on European security, Fidan indicated that overcoming this challenge marked the end of the most arduous phase of the summit's preparations.

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NATO's next phase should not be a structure that only reacts to existing threats. The alliance needs to develop a long-term, comprehensive, and strategic security understanding.

Fidan stressed that NATO must evolve beyond merely reacting to immediate threats. He called for the alliance to cultivate a long-term, comprehensive, and strategic security vision, emphasizing the creation of strategic capacity as a key objective for the future. While acknowledging occasional disagreements between the U.S. and Europe, Fidan expressed confidence that these tensions would not escalate into unmanageable crises at the summit, particularly with Trump's engagement.

Addressing Turkey's position in European security, Fidan asserted that the continent's security cannot be viewed solely through the lens of the European Union. He highlighted Turkey's pivotal role in fostering a broader security approach. Ankara continues to support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while simultaneously maintaining diplomatic channels with Russia, which Fidan deems crucial for European security.

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The most difficult stage of the NATO Summit process was ensuring Donald Trump's participation in the meeting.

Furthermore, Fidan suggested that defense industry cooperation should not be confined to EU-centric initiatives. He pointed to countries like Turkey and the UK as natural and indispensable partners in European defense collaboration, given their robust defense infrastructures. He also urged European nations to view U.S. calls for greater burden-sharing not as pressure, but as an inevitable necessity for Europe to assume more responsibility in its own security.

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European security cannot be evaluated solely within the EU framework; a more comprehensive security approach is needed, and Turkey plays a central role in this process.