Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says a planned NATO summit will not take place in Tirana in 2027, while the alliance says Albania remains the host country but no date has been decided.

Speaking in Dublin on Thursday before a gathering of European leaders, Rama said there was “not yet [a] common position on when the summit will happen, for sure not in 2027”, according to Al Jazeera.

“And in 2028, if it will be a summit, it will be in Tirana,” he added.

A NATO official told the outlet the next summit “will be held in Albania”, with its timing still to be determined. The statements leave the date unresolved rather than confirming that Albania has lost its hosting role.

Al Jazeera cited Reuters reporting from June that preparations for an Albanian summit had run into resistance from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and dissatisfaction among alliance members over Tirana’s low defence spending.

At their June 2025 summit in The Hague, NATO leaders issued a declaration anticipating a meeting in Turkiye in 2026, “followed by a meeting in Albania”. But the declaration from the July summit in Ankara did not identify a date or location for the next gathering.

According to Al Jazeera, NATO has also been considering moving away from its recent practice of annual summits, a change that could avoid a potentially tense meeting with Trump later in his term.

The uncertainty comes as Rama faces months of domestic protests. Demonstrations began in May after he gave preliminary approval to a luxury resort backed by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the protected Vjosa-Narta wetland at Zvernec and on nearby Sazan Island.

The demonstrations expanded into calls for Rama’s resignation over alleged corruption. Violent student protests over university conditions followed in October. On Oct. 29, opposition lawmakers led by Sali Berisha disrupted parliament with flares and smoke bombs in support of protesters.

Rama has refused to resign and says the resort complies with Albanian and European Union law. His government has dismissed the protests as orchestrated by political rivals.

Sources