NATO leaders' 2025 summit to be held in the Netherlands

The 31 NATO allies agreed on Tuesday to hold their 2025 summit in the Netherlands. The decision was made at the current summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the leaders of the allied nations met on Tuesday. The current meeting is the first to take place in a Baltic country since the 2006 summit in Riga, Latvia, and the closest to either Russian or Belarusian territory since the 2016 meeting in Warsaw, Poland.

It will be the first NATO summit organized by the Netherlands. Although Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte, 56, represented the Netherlands in Lithuania, it is not yet known who will serve as host in 2025. Rutte, the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the Netherlands, said he will not run for reelection after his fourth coalition Cabinet collapsed last week.

The next general election will take place before the end of the year, likely at the end of the autumn or beginning of winter. Rutte represented the Netherlands for the first time at the 2010 summit in Lisbon, as well as the following 11 meetings of the military alliance, including three in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

There have been 33 summit meetings organized after NATO was formed in 1949, and four other special meetings. Of the 37 events, 13 have been held in Brussels. The United Kingdom and France have each hosted four meetings, with the latter organizing the first in December 1957.

Prior to the Dutch summit, the NATO leaders will meet in the United States for their 2024 summit, which will be that country's fourth summit. "We express our appreciation for the generous hospitality extended to us by the Republic of Lithuania. We look forward to meeting again for the Alliance’s 75th anniversary in Washington, D.C. in 2024, followed by a meeting in the Netherlands in 2025," the leaders wrote in their joint statement during the Vilnius summit.

"This will be a crucial meeting, which centres on the increased threat facing the NATO Area and the Russian war in Ukraine," Rutte said ahead of the Vilnius summit, calling for stronger political ties between allied nations, and more military support for Ukraine. "So it’s crucial that we work together to ensure that Putin’s brutal war fails. And that Ukraine regains its sovereignty. The watchword here is ‘unity’."

Rutte has been unwavering in his support of Ukraine in their clash with Russia. Additionally, current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been very vocal since taking his job in his support of the Netherlands after a Russian Buk missile shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. There were 298 people who died on the flight, which departed from Amsterdam, including 198 Dutch citizens.