The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, demonstrated unprecedented unity among its members, as well as its reluctance to cross a political line with Russia in its war on Ukraine, a Northeastern University expert says.
“It would be very unwise to allow Ukraine to enter [NATO] knowing that it would immediately change how NATO is playing a role in this conflict,” says Julie Garey, associate teaching professor of political science and director of Northeastern’s Security and Resilience Studies program.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had previously blocked Sweden from joining the alliance, sprang the biggest surprise of the summit by agreeing to accept the Scandinavian country’s bid for membership and forward it to the Turkish parliament for ratification.
Northeastern Global News spoke with Garey about her takeaways from the summit. Her comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.
