On board the Air Force One that took him to the summit in The Hague, Trump has said that Spain is a “problem” in terms of military spending in NATO, according to reports Reuters.
Furthermore, he has published a graphic on your social networks titled “Spain threatens to derail NATO summit.” In the image there appears a photo of Sánchez and the defense spending of all countries in 2024 in order to compare that of Spain, the last on the list, with that of the United States: ““almost a billion dollars”.
The graph that Trump has shared to show that Spain is the NATO member that spends the least GDP on defense.
Sánchez is the sole leader of the Atlantic Alliance who has publicly opposed raising Defense investment from the current target of 2% to 5%, as Trump has been demanding since he returned to the White House in January.
The president of the United States will meet personally with Sánchez during dinner of NATO leaders tonight in The Hague and the only working session being held this Wednesday. The Atlantic Alliance has shortened the duration of the summit to prevent Trump from leaving it prematurely.
It is not the first time that the president of the United States has specifically criticized Spain (and Sánchez personally) for dragging its feet on defense investment. He already did so during his first mandate at the NATO summit in Brussels in 2018.
“NATO is going to have to deal with Spain. Spain has always contributed very little. Either they were good negotiators or they were not doing the right thing. Spain has to pay what everyone else has to pay“Trump said last Friday.
Sánchez announced in a press conference on Sunday that he had obtained an exception from NATO that would exempt him from fulfilling the commitment made by the rest of the partners. Spain will only spend 2.1%,”no more no less“said the President of the Government.
However, the secretary general of the Alliance, Mark Ruttedenied him this Monday, ensuring that he has not granted any “exception” to Spain or signed a “parallel agreement” with Sánchez.
While the President of the Government maintains that 2.1% will be enough to finance all the military capabilities that Spain has promised to NATO, Rutte corrected his figures and assured that our country will need to reach at least 3.5% in pure military spending, like the rest of the partners.
Several European heads of government have criticized Sánchez for seeking a ‘Spanish exception’ to the 5%. “I don’t see anything that leaves room for exceptions,” declared the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Also the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksenwho belongs to the same socialist family as Sánchez, has said that it is not “fair” that countries furthest from Russia seek special treatment.
“It is a question of unity, of defending Europe, not just Poland or the Czech Republic. I do not agree with the idea of an exception for one country“said Frederiksen. A position to which the Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, has also joined.
“About Sánchez and why I did not do like Spain, I officially communicate that there is no difference between the commitments that Spain has assumed within NATO and those that Italy has assumed. The commitments are the same for everyone and were signed by everyone,” said Giorgia Meloni this Monday in the Italian Parliament.
Article 5
The Secretary General warned this Tuesday that Trump only will maintain its commitment to Take and with the defense of Europe If the European allies respond positively to your demands and They increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
In fact, the president of the United States, in his conversation with the press on board the Air Force One, He did not want to confirm whether he feels bound by Article 5, NATO’s collective defense clause.
“It depends on the definition. There are numerous definitions of article 5. “They know that, right?” Trump told reporters.
The former real estate magnate has added, however, that he is “committed to being friends” with other members of the Alliance because he has “befriended many of those leaders” and is “committed to helping them.” What has not been clarified is whether Sánchez is among his friends.
In contrast to Spain’s reluctance, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merzwill accelerate its military investment in the strict sense until reaching 3.5% six years earlier than agreed, in 2029.
That means that Berlin will double the money spent on defense between 2021 and 2029going from 70,000 million euros to around 150,000 million, with a troop increase of 60,000 soldiers in the short term, as highlighted by the Secretary General of NATO.
Other countries such as Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland or Norway are already “very close” to 3.5% of military spending per se. To this we must add the extra spending of 1.5% that must be dedicated to security in a broad sense (and therefore easier to comply with), until reaching the 5% that Trump demands.