NATO members have decided the next meeting of the North Atlantic Council will take place in Brussels on 25 May 2017 and will also include an inauguration of the organisation’s new Headquarters.
The meeting will take on extra significance as the White House has announced the heads of state meeting will be President Trump’s first foreign trip.
The President will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on May 25 and join other heads of state to discuss how to adapt to the most serious challenges in a generation facing the alliance.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the President will use the get together to “to reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO, and to discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism.”
Mr Trump has been critical of NATO, describing it as “obsolete” whilst on the campaign trail.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “This will be an important opportunity for NATO leaders to decide how we can further strengthen our efforts, including in the fight against terrorism.
“While progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing within our Alliance, we will also address what more needs to be done to meet the pledge made by Heads of State and Government to spend more and better on defence.”
The President will also host Mr Stoltenberg at the White House next month to discuss how to best meet the challenges to national and international security.
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