On 11-12 July, NATO leaders held their annual summit in Vilnius amidst an unprecedented security landscape and high expectations on the steps towards enlargement and the new courses of action to preserve collective defence in the Euro-Atlantic area and states’ resilience and capacity-building. While the Alliance delivered on its core missions (collective security and crisis management), it was not as ambitious and straightforward when it came to more sensitive matters like Ukraine and Sweden’s membership paths, or partnerships in other global regions (e.g., the Asia Pacific).

This info flash builds on the one making a preview on the Vilnius Summit (Bosica, 2023) to reflect upon its outcomes in the following areas: Ukraine and Sweden’s membership paths (section I), collective defence plans (section II), defence investment pledges and capacity building (sections III) and initiatives to enhance NATO’s resilience vis-à-vis emerging threats (section IV). Although times are still not ripe to make a conclusive assessment about the Summit’s success or failure, it will surely be remembered for being a bridge between the Madrid Summit in 2022 and the upcoming Washington Summit in 2024 (Atlantic Council Experts, 2023).