Three decades later, NATO parliamentarians head to the site of the Dayton Peace Accords

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Three decades later, NATO parliamentarians head to the site of the Dayton Peace Accords

2025-05-22 18:14 Last Updated At：18:20

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Representatives of NATO -aligned nations will gather starting Thursday in the Ohio city where an end to the three-year Bosnian war was brokered three decades ago, unpacking the lessons of the Dayton Peace Accords for navigating global conflicts.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a transatlantic forum of about 300 parliamentarians from the organization's 32 member nations, arrives in Dayton for their five-day meeting at a time when the Trump administration has cast doubt over whether the U.S. would defend NATO allies in Europe without them committing larger percentages of their budgets to defense spending.

It is the first time since 2003 that the event has been held in the United States.

Organizers are framing the 30th anniversary of the 1995 accords — negotiated at Dayton's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and signed in Paris later that year — as a celebration of peace and the power of diplomacy.

The NATO Village in the heart of downtown Dayton is festooned with flags of NATO nations, and a host of cultural activities have been planned alongside formal parliamentary proceedings, including art and history exhibits and a series of free lectures open to the public. A Concert for Peace, featuring musicians from symphonies in both Dayton and Sarajevo, will be performed on May 29.

“There's an excitement in the air,” said Chris Kershner, president and CEO of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not only for our community, but for everybody who’s working on it. So everybody is truly excited ... They know they're part of history happening right here.”

Natalie Hudson, a political science professor and executive director of the Human Rights Center at the University of Dayton, said hosting the deal that ended the horrific violence, weaponized rape and ethnic cleansing that had marked the long-running conflict between Bosnia, Serbia and to a lesser extent Croatia in the early 1990s helped shape the city's character.

“Dayton and Daytonians were very aware at the time of what was happening at Wright-Patt Air Force Base,” she said. “There were prayer vigils. Sarajevo became a sister city to Dayton, and quite a bit of a connection was made. And that idea of Dayton being a city of peace really settled in, and we take great pride in that here in the city.”

That spirit led to the establishment of The International Peace Museum in the city, perhaps the only museum of its kind in the U.S., she said.

Hudson is among a host of speakers who will participate in “The Dayton Dialogue: Conversations about Peace and Security in the Balkans,” four days of panel discussions to be held at the University of Dayton's Roger Glass Center for the Arts in tandem with the assembly.

Also planned to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords is the Think Freedom project, an installation that combined art, history and community engagement. The Old Montgomery County Courthouse will host an exhibit called “Dayton Around the World,” featuring artifacts and stories celebrating the city's history, which includes being home to the aviation-pioneering Wright brothers.

Gatherings of this magnitude also require security planning. Demonstrators on many sides of the issues could show up to picket or march. The city has spent over $700,000 to rent the fencing and barricades to place around the NATO Village and summit venue downtown, which are closed to the public through Sunday.

Kershner said plans are in place to ensure safety.

“Dayton’s well prepared to host events like this,” he said. “We have a great Dayton Police Department. We’ve worked very closely with Ohio State Highway Patrol, with Homeland Security, with other law enforcement agencies to make sure that everybody’s going to be safe, secure, and well-protected.”

Republican Rep. Mike Turner, head of the U.S. parliamentary delegation, represents Dayton in Congress. He is scheduled to join other dignitaries to kick off the event Thursday afternoon.

Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.