Spain Pushes Back against Mooted 5% NATO Spending Goal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Spain is resisting US President Donald Trump's demands to hike defense spending to five percent of national output, potentially threatening NATO unity at a crucial alliance summit this month.
The European country ended 2024 as the NATO member that dedicated the smallest proportion of its annual economic output to defense, falling short of the two percent target set in 2014, AFP reported.
Faced with Trump's threats to withdraw US security guarantees from member states perceived as not pulling their weight, Spain has announced fresh spending to hit the two percent mark this year.
But Madrid is baulking at suggestions the target should rise to five percent as Russia’s war on Ukraine has stretched into a fourth year menaces Europe.
With Germany and Poland already backing the new benchmark, Spain could find itself isolated among its allies at the June 24-25 NATO summit in The Hague.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces a balancing act of aligning with NATO allies and cajoling his far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, which is hostile to increasing military spending.
He has not submitted to parliament the plans for new defense spending of more than 10 billion euros, sparking criticism from his parliamentary allies whose support is crucial for the government's viability.
NATO chief Mark Rutte has mentioned 3.5 percent of military spending in the traditional definition of the term by 2032, with the remaining 1.5 percent going to security in a broader sense, including border protection and cybersecurity.
