NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska has praised the level achieved by Türkiye’s defence industry, emphasizing that the country has been experiencing what amounts to a de facto industrial revolution in the sector for a long time and has developed outstanding examples of defence innovation. Shekerinska spoke alongside Türkiye’s Permanent Representative to NATO, Ambassador Basat Öztürk, during a session titled “NATO and Europe: Security Architecture Following the Ankara Summit” at the Türkiye-EU Business Summit in Brussels. The event was organized in cooperation with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK) and the European Business Summit (EBS).
Shekerinska said discussions at the NATO Summit held in Ankara on July 7–8 focused on translating the commitments on defence spending made at the Hague Summit into concrete capabilities. She noted that European allies and Canada were assuming greater responsibility for the Alliance’s security. European allies and Canada allocated more than an additional $250 billion to defence in 2025 and 2026, Shekerinska said, describing the increase as “a rational response to a security environment that has changed significantly in recent years.” She noted that burden-sharing had been a subject of discussion within NATO since the Alliance’s establishment.
At the Ankara Summit, however, progress was made in increasing defence spending, expanding procurement contracts and strengthening cooperation in the defence sector. Shekerinska said contracts worth approximately $50 billion had been announced and signed. She emphasized that the primary objective was to go beyond increasing expenditure and ensure that the additional resources translated into the capabilities NATO needed.
One of the key messages emerging from the Ankara Summit, Shekerinska said, was the vision of “a stronger Europe within a stronger Alliance.” She added that European allies and Canada would assume greater responsibility, particularly in the area of conventional deterrence. Shekerinska also warned that hybrid threats and attacks could be as dangerous as other forms of aggression, highlighting what she described as Russia’s increasingly reckless and dangerous actions. According to Shekerinska, Russia has failed to achieve a significant advantage on the battlefield in recent months and has been losing more than 40,000 troops every month.
Despite these losses, she said, Moscow has continued to pursue hybrid activities aimed at undermining allied support for Ukraine. These activities include attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, airspace violations, sabotage, arson and threats of assassination. We will continue on our path.
This means sustaining our investments and preserving the technological superiority and advantage we possess,” Shekerinska said. She stressed the importance of maintaining support for Ukraine, arguing that the Alliance must demonstrate that Russia cannot achieve a strategic victory by weakening that assistance. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of technology in defence and accelerated innovation processes, Shekerinska said, adding that data-driven defence solutions would play an increasingly decisive role in the future.
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