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Spain Rejects NATO 5% Defense Spending 06/20 06:16
MADRID (AP) -- Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5% of gross
domestic product on defense needs that's due to be announced next week, calling
it "unreasonable."
Prime Minister Pedro Snchez, in a letter sent on Thursday to NATO
Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said that Spain "cannot commit to a specific
spending target in terms of GDP" at next week's NATO summit in The Hague,
Netherlands.
Any agreement to adopt a new spending guideline must be made with the
consensus of all 32 NATO member states. So Snchez's decision risks derailing
next week's summit, which U.S. President Donald Trump is due to attend, and
creating a last-minute shakeup that could have lingering repercussions.
Most U.S. allies in NATO are on track to endorse Trump's demand that they
invest 5% of GDP on their defense and military needs. In early June, Sweden and
the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target.
A NATO official on Thursday said that discussions between allies were
ongoing about a new defense spending plan.
"For Spain, committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but
also counterproductive, as it would move Spain away from optimal spending and
it would hinder the EU's ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defense
ecosystem," Snchez wrote in the letter seen by The Associated Press.
Spain was the lowest spender in the trans-Atlantic alliance last year,
directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure.
Snchez said in April that the government would raise defense spending by
10.5 billion euros ($12 billion) in 2025 to reach NATO's previous target of 2%
of GDP.
On Thursday, Snchez called for "a more flexible formula" in relation to a
new spending target -- one that either made it optional or left Spain out of
its application.
Snchez wrote that the country is "fully committed to NATO," but that
meeting a 5% target "would be incompatible with our welfare state and our world
vision." He said that doing so would require cutting public services and
scaling back other spending, including toward the green transition.
Instead, Spain will need to spend 2.1% of GDP to meet the Spanish military's
estimated defense needs, Snchez said.
At home, corruption scandals that have ensnared Snchez's inner circle and
family members have put the Spanish leader under increasing pressure to call an
early election, even from some allies.
Increased military spending is also unpopular among some of Sanchez's
coalition partners. In April, when Snchez announced that Spain would reach
NATO's previous 2% spending target, the move angered some coalition members
further to the left of his Socialist Party.
NATO allies agreed to spend 2% of GDP on military expenditure after Russia
launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. But the
alliance's plans for defending Europe and North America against a Russian
attack require investments of at least 3%.
The aim now is to raise the bar to 3.5% for core defense spending on tanks,
warplanes, air defense, missiles and hiring extra troops. A further 1.5% would
be spent on things like roads, bridges, ports and airfields so armies can
deploy more quickly, as well as preparing societies for possible attack.
Several allies have committed to reaching the new spending goal, even though
other nations will struggle to find the billions required.
Rutte had been due to table a new proposal on Friday aimed at satisfying
Spain and trying to break the deadlock. European allies and Canada want to end
the standoff before the leaders meet with Trump on Wednesday.
Poland and the Baltic countries -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- have
already publicly committed to 5%, and Rutte has said that most allies were
ready to endorse the goal.
But Spain isn't alone among NATO's low spenders. Belgium, Canada and Italy
will also struggle to hike security spending by billions of dollars.
A big question still to be answered is what time frame countries will be
given to reach an agreed-upon new spending goal.
A target date of 2032 was initially floated, but Rutte has said that Russia
could be ready to launch an attack on NATO territory by 2030.
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