NATO summit kicks off in Wales on hotspot issues

Xinhua

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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Thursday kicked off its 26th summit at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, southeast Wales of Britain, with nearly 60 world leaders invited to attend the two-day gathering.

The summit, the first in Britain since former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher welcomed NATO leaders to London in 1990, also witnessed the arrival of the heads of state and government of its 28 member countries.

The summit took place in the context of worsening global security environment and growing instability in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Ukrainian crisis, NATO's tasks in Afghanistan, the rise of extremism and sectarian strife in the Middle East and North Africa are expected to top the agenda of the summit.

The Alliance will also discuss newer threats such as cyber security, missile defense and hybrid warfare.

Formal sessions of the summit will start with a meeting on Afghanistan, as NATO is completing its combat mission at the end of 2014 and readjusting its partnership with Kabul.

High-level representatives from the United Nations and the European Union will also attend the meeting, together with leaders from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) nations, Afghanistan and Japan.