Albares calls for Europe's "moral rearmament" in the face of the "greatest threat" to the Old Continent

BarcelonaThe word rearmament has been occupying headlines for months. In an increasingly unstable and fierce world order, where armed conflicts are multiplying and major global actors are setting aside diplomatic channels and rendering current international law null and void, it seems inevitable that states must invest in weapons to guarantee their sovereignty and, in general, their medium-term future.

Virtually all European leaders advocate for increasing military spending. And Spain, which has been one of the most reluctant states to increase such allocations, has been no exception: in 2025 it was the 15th country in the world that spent the most on military matters, and in just one year it has increased defense spending by more than half a percentage point.

The consensus across the Old Continent regarding Europe's rearmament became clear this Monday on the first day of this year's annual meeting of the Cercle d'Economia. From the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, in Barcelona, two ministers with very different realities defended a solid European military industry. In a panel discussion, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, presented this field as one of the multiple areas in which Europe must gain autonomy.

"We need a European defense industry, not just drones, but also air defense systems and information systems," said Sikorski. Albares also defended a strong military industry after the United States "invited," according to him, Europe to rearm, in reference to Trump's coercion of NATO allies to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

The need to rearm comes, in part, for a reason that both have agreed to point out: Vladimir Putin's expansionist ambition. Russia is, for the Spanish minister, a "permanent threat" to Europe" from which the European Union must defend itself. "I do not believe that Russia's aggressive attitude towards the East will change, at least as long as Putin remains at the head of the country," asserted Albares. Sikorski, for his part, expressed the fear of Eastern countries that the invasion of Ukraine will be repeated in another country: "The closer you are to Russia, the more defense spending you want".

Moscow has been portrayed by the two ministers as a "threat" that justifies one of the key areas in which Europe must gain autonomy being the military field, especially at a time of tense relations with its traditional partner, the United States, and in an increasingly volatile world order. But, despite Russia having served, in part, to justify European rearmament, it is not the main threat facing the Old Continent.

The far-right, the main threat

Albares wanted to use the word that has been making headlines for months in a freer way and spoke of "moral rearmament". For the Spanish minister, "the greatest threat" facing the European project is not Russia, but "the far-right forces within our countries". The Spanish Foreign Minister did not neglect Ukraine. He argued that Europe "cannot afford" to let Russia win the war, and assured that the day there is a peace agreement in Ukraine "will largely be the security framework that we Europeans will have".

However, unlike Sikorski, who has shown deep concern about the Russian president's intentions and has skirted around the issue of the far-right, Albares believes that the greatest threat is not external, but comes from within the continent itself. To preserve the survival of the EU, strategic autonomy must be combined with a "rearmament" of "democratic values", he pointed out.

However, external factors can also play a decisive role in the rise of the far-right on the continent, both due to the global nature of the reactionary rise and the intentions of actors like the United States to favor far-right parties on the continent. This was pointed out in their latest update of the national security strategy, although in recent months there have been several frictions in the relationship between the classic far-right and the White House.