SUPPORTING A QUANTUM LEAP IN DETERRENCE AND DEFENCE: A PARLIAMENTARY AGENDA FOR A STRONGER NATO

At the Spring Session in Vilnius, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly adopted a declaration in support of a more resilient and stronger transatlantic Alliance. The declaration was presented by Sir Alec Shelbrooke, NATO PA Vice-President. 

1.    NATO is undergoing a generational upgrade of its deterrence and defence posture, grounded in a historic rebalancing of the Alliance. Allies are building a stronger and more responsible Europe as the foundation of a more resilient and credible transatlantic Alliance. 

2.    As members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, we have a clear responsibility to meet this moment. We will mobilise our parliaments to ensure NATO has the sustained political support and resources it needs to deter and defend against any threat, from any direction. We will continue to engage with our citizens to strengthen a culture of defence, preparedness and democratic resilience.

3.    We will redouble our investment in parliamentary diplomacy to build strategic convergence among Allies, strengthen the transatlantic bond, promote trust and foster cooperation. Europe and North America share a core strategic interest in preserving peace, stability and prosperity. We are united in defending our freedom, democracy and way of life. Our security is best assured when we work together. A strong NATO, grounded in the ironclad commitment to collective defence enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, is the most effective means to deter aggression, prevent war and protect our citizens.

4.    The threats we face are interlinked. Russia remains a direct, strategic, and long term threat to Euro-Atlantic security including through its war of aggression against Ukraine and its destabilisation campaigns against Allied security. We strongly condemn Russia’s reckless actions that led to recent drone incursions into Lithuanian and Romanian airspace. Terrorism is the most direct asymmetric threat to Allies. Cyberattacks, sabotage, economic coercion, and other hybrid tactics target Allied societies every day. The growing alignment among Russia, China, Iran and North Korea challenges our security and intensifies strategic competition, from the North Atlantic to the Black Sea and from the Arctic to the Strait of Hormuz.

5.    The 2026 NATO Summit will mark the next step in adapting NATO and turning commitments into concrete capabilities. As political leaders, we have a key role to play in ensuring that political decisions made in Ankara – on capabilities, readiness, force generation, infrastructure, defence industry and resilience – are delivered at speed, at scale, and in forms that deter aggression.

6.    The Summit must further operationalise the commitment to invest 5% of GDP annually in defence and security-related requirements with urgency, through credible national plans supported by relevant legislative frameworks. Our countries should make all possible efforts to accelerate delivery timelines well before 2035. The Assembly will continue to make the political, strategic and economic case for defence investment to our citizens. We are committed not only to support sustained defence commitments, but to actively track their implementation and insist on concrete delivery over time.

7.    We must strengthen the defence and technological industrial base on both sides of the Atlantic to out-produce, out-innovate and out-adapt those who seek to undermine our security, while underscoring the importance of continued and effective transatlantic defence cooperation. Parliaments play a decisive role in identifying the laws, incentives and reforms needed to increase production, accelerate procurement, secure supply chains and increase stockpiles, remove barriers to defence industrial cooperation and drive innovation. Defence investment is not only a security imperative; it also fosters competitiveness, technological development, job creation and economic growth.

8.    A stronger and more capable Europe is essential to a fairer, more balanced and resilient NATO. European Allies and Canada must continue to invest more, produce more and field the forces, capabilities, enablers and infrastructure required to assume greater responsibility for the conventional deterrence and defence of Europe. They must also continue to take the lead, together with the United States, in supporting Ukraine, including through NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative. Parliaments will be critical to sustaining the democratic backing for a long-term shift in the balance of responsibilities. We support establishing concrete collective milestones to track progress in burden-shifting, grounded in the NATO defence planning process. 

9.     A strong, sovereign and independent Ukraine is vital to the stability of the Euro Atlantic area. We reaffirm that Ukraine’s future is in NATO. Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration contributes directly to long-term regional security and stability. Sustained military, economic and political support will remain essential. We support a clear multi-year funding commitment that ensures predictability and matches assistance to Ukraine’s needs on the ground. 

10.    Increasing cooperation with Ukraine’s defence industry, including through more                                  co-production and joint development, strengthens Ukraine’s ability to defend itself while also increasing Allied preparedness. We support maintaining pressure on Russia by backing the ramping up and effective enforcement of sanctions against it and its accomplices, particularly in the oil and gas sector, including the Russian shadow fleet, as well as the banking and financial sectors.

11.    The Assembly will continue to focus on resilience as a key enabler of collective defence.  Parliaments have a direct responsibility to adopt legislation and sustain investment to protect critical infrastructure, including energy networks, ports, transport corridors, undersea infrastructure, telecommunications, data systems and space-based assets. We will also work to reduce strategic vulnerabilities and dependencies in defence-critical supply chains, emerging technologies, raw materials, energy, fuel supply chains, and logistics. 

12.    We do not face these challenges alone. NATO’s partnerships, together with the Assembly’s extensive network of parliamentary partners, are key strategic assets. Dialogue and practical cooperation with partners in our southern and eastern neighbourhood and in the Indo-Pacific contribute to strengthening resilience and address globally connected security challenges. 

13.    At a time of growing threats and strategic competition, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will remain a unique platform to promote Allied unity, solidarity, and cohesion, strengthen the transatlantic bond and uphold collective defence. NATO remains the essential force multiplier for our nations. We will use our parliamentary mandates to sustain public support, strengthen democratic legitimacy and ensure that the Alliance remains ready to prevent war, protect our freedom and safeguard our way of life.