Thorny questions to test NATO’s unity at annual summit in Vilnius | Chris Megerian, Lorne Cook & Seung Min Kim / The Associated Press

Two men do construction work around the flags at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, July 6, 2023. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues with no end in sight, NATO’s much-celebrated unity faces fresh strains when leaders gather for their annual summit this week in Vilnius, Lithuania. Disagreements have been stacking up over admitting Sweden as NATO’s 32nd member, boosting military spending and finding a new secretary general.

“Any fissure, any lack of solidarity provides an opportunity for those who would oppose the alliance,” said Douglas Lute, who served as US ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama. “A gray zone is a green light for Putin,” said Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland, and now a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, described the summit as “an important moment on that pathway toward membership” and that allies need to “discuss the reforms that are still necessary for Ukraine to come up to NATO standards.” Sweden recently changed its anti-terrorism legislation and lifted an arms embargo on Turkey. However, a man burned a Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm last week, and Erdogan signaled that this would pose another obstacle. He equated “those who permitted the crime” to those who perpetrated it.

Max Bergmann, a former State Department official who leads the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there’s growing frustration among allies toward Erdogan, building on concerns about his ties to Putin, democratic backsliding and sanctions evasion.

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