Spain secures NATO concession ahead of key summit in The Hague
Photo: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (flickr.com/lamoncloa_gob_es)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has reached an agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on a concession ahead of the summit in The Hague. Spain will not be required to increase its defense spending to 5% of GDP, as demanded by US President Donald Trump, EFE and Reuters report.
Unnamed officials from the Spanish government told EFE that Sánchez and Rutte exchanged letters over the weekend. As a result of this exchange, they managed to agree that Spain could refrain from raising its defense spending above 2% of GDP - the current NATO target.
Sánchez himself stated that the agreement allows Spain to fulfill its obligations to NATO without the need to increase investments.
According to Reuters, this concession has already been approved by all NATO member states and will be included in the joint communiqué of the upcoming summit in The Hague. Furthermore, allied countries have agreed that the 5% defense spending target should be reached by 2035. However, the communiqué must still be officially approved by the leaders of the 32 member states at the summit.
NATO summit in The Hague
On Tuesday, June 24, the NATO summit will begin in The Hague, Netherlands. The main topic of the meeting of the 32 allied countries will be increasing defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP. This is a condition set by US President Trump, which he has repeatedly presented to NATO member states.
However, Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez recently stated that Spain will not agree to raise its defense spending. According to him, Madrid could at most raise it to 2.1%. Currently, Spain’s defense spending stands at 1.4% of GDP.
Western media also reported that the NATO Secretary General had proposed that allied countries reach the 5% target by 2032. However, some Alliance members pushed for a deadline of 2035.
