NATO in March 2026: the most important developments in politics
NATO in March 2026 was dominated by President Donald Trump's demand that allies help secure the Strait of Hormuz during the war involving Iran. On 16 March Trump warned that the alliance's future would be 'very bad' without support. Germany's foreign minister and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejected a NATO mission in the region, saying the conflict was not a NATO matter, while Finland and Lithuania said the request should be considered. On 17 March Trump said the United States did not need NATO's help and would proceed alone, calling the refusal a 'foolish mistake'. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton urged NATO to back the plan, and by 19 March allies were discussing ways to reopen the strait. On 20 and 26 March Trump called the allies 'cowards' and a 'paper tiger', and said the US would 'remember' their response; experts said his threats to withdraw from NATO were being taken seriously. On 22 March Secretary General Mark Rutte said he was 'absolutely convinced' the alliance could reopen the strait.
Iran's conduct toward member states was a second theme. NATO condemned Iran's 'targeting' of Turkey with ballistic missile fire on 4 March, and Iran denied firing a missile. Rutte said there was no discussion of invoking the Article 5 collective defence clause, and NATO pledged to defend Romania. Cyprus discussed seeking NATO membership, and Turkey reportedly complained to NATO, the US and the EU about Greek missile systems on the island of Karpathos.
Other items concerned spending and Ukraine. Rutte credited Trump with pressing members to reach the 2% of GDP spending goal. Trump told allies the war in Ukraine was not their conflict, and on 22 March a NATO delegation visited Ukraine for the first time since the 2022 invasion. Serbia's president confirmed the purchase of Chinese missiles and said Serbia had no plans to join NATO.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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