DAYTON, Ohio — In less than three months, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will hold a series of meetings in the United States for the first time in 20 years.

The eyes of the world will be on Dayton, Ohio, as the delegation holds its Spring Session.

What You Need To Know

  • Members of the NATO PA Advance Team spend a week in Dayton to give the city the final thumbs up before the Spring Session

  • Delegates from 32 NATO countries along with associate countries will focus a lot of time in NATO Village and the Schuster Center headquarters

  • The Session takes place Memorial Day weekend 2025

This week NATO team members took final steps to give the city the thumbs up before May.

No matter the conversations happening right now in Washington, for delegation planning members and the city of Dayton, this session has been in the works for a long time, and everyone is looking forward to Memorial Day weekend 2025.

“We’re just planning ahead. As Jason said, it’s 76 days and we started this three years ago, so 76 days is nothing. Before you know it, we’re back and we’re going to enjoy this city to the fullest to the fullest potential,” said Sebastien Botella, head of operational management for NATO PA.

“And let me also say President Trump and Vice President Vance have been invited to participate,” said Jason Galanes, Chief of Staff for Congressman Mike Turner, R-District 10.

For the past week, NATO’s Advance Team of nine have been taking in everything Dayton has to offer. They've been trying restaurants, visiting attractions and even enjoying a UD game were on the docket.

Delegates from 32 NATO countries, along with associate countries, will focus a lot of time in NATO Village and the Schuster Center headquarters.

However, the plan is to also get them out and about.  

“We’re also trying to bring the Parliamentarians out into Dayton so they just aren’t in NATO village the whole time," Galanes said. "We’ll be working with different parts of the city, Oregon District, Wright Dunbar, with the restaurants and businesses who really want to welcome the Parliamentarians."

Over Memorial Day weekend, you can expect different traffic patterns and high security around downtown.

Local and state law enforcement, along with Homeland Security, have been meeting to assess what needs to be done.

“They’re alerting us if they detect a threat," Galanes said. "They are assisting us on the State Department side with protocol with communication. So they are partners in this, but in terms of federal dollars for security, that is not happening."

Once the session begins with an opening ceremony, five committees will get to work discussing their reports from a wide range of topics.

“It’s going to be the 30th commemoration of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords. Mr. Turner was keen to bring a session back to the United States and it seems absolutely appropriate for it to take place here in Dayton,” said Helen Cadwallender, head of Conference Service Department for NATO.

“Everybody is really involved, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement since our first visit here," Botella said. "This is going to be great."