NATO security · May 2026

Europe is accelerating efforts to develop its own long-range missiles after the US scrapped a deployment plan, a move that underscores growing transatlantic tensions over defense commitments. NATO members are urged to boost military spending as Finland's president assesses the risk of a Russian attack on the alliance. Ukraine joins NATO military exercises, while Serbia and the alliance hold their first joint drill near Bujanovac. NATO moves to counter destabilization in the Western Balkans and cultivate a vetted counter-drone vendor pool for member nations. German NATO soldiers were attacked near their barracks in the Netherlands, and a Russian official warned that granting NATO airspace to Ukrainian drones would be seen as a declaration of war.