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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The eyes of the world will turn to Ohio this spring, when hundreds of U.S. and European dignitaries descend on Dayton for the National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly’s 2025 Spring Session.
The event marks the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Accords, which were negotiated in 1995 at Wright Patterson Air Force Base just east of Dayton. The agreement, brokered by NATO officials, ended the 3.5-year-long Bosnian War between Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats.
NATO returns to Dayton amid an entirely new set of geopolitical challenges facing Europe and the alliance, particularly due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“How do we transition NATO for the future? How do we look both at the conflict that we’ve had in Ukraine, the threat of Russian aggression? How do we look to ensure that NATO allies rise to the responsibilities that they have of their 2% contribution? And how do we make certain that NATO transitions for the future?” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who is a past president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and current head of the U.S. delegation.
Turner was mayor of Dayton when the Dayton Accords were signed. He used his influence in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to bring the group’s annual spring session to the city. It will be the first time the assembly has held a session in the U.S. in 22 years.
Turner said the choice of Dayton as the host city both highlighted Dayton’s reputation as a “Main Street USA” city and underscored America’s commitment to NATO.
That commitment has increasingly come under question with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Trump has criticized the alliance and threated to withdraw if its 32 member states don’t spend at least 2 percent of their economic output on defense.
When asked if there was fear among assembly members that Trump would withdraw from NATO, Turner reiterated his support for both the alliance and the incoming president.
“When Trump was president last time, Trump left NATO stronger than when he came into office. And I’m certain it will be the same this time,” he said.
The session will take place over Memorial Day Weekend, May 23 to 25.
