Atlantic allies criticize Sánchez for the 5% military spending cut: "NATO is not stupid."

HaguePressure from NATO allies Pedro Sánchez does not stopAt the start of Wednesday's key NATO summit, several leaders lamented or criticized Spain for its reluctance to commit to increasing military spending to at least 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP). Thus, Eastern European countries in particular, Donald Trump, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte are pushing Spain to contribute to Europe's massive rearmament and reminding it that there are no exceptions within the military organization, even though Sánchez claims to have agreed to a special deal with the NATO. Be that as it may, the US president has already declared victory. "It will be a victory for everyone, and we will be equal [in terms of military spending] soon," Trump said.

Criticism of Sánchez is coming from all sides. Even Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, also a Social Democrat, called the Spanish government's request "unfair." Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, a conservative, expressed his opposition to "exceptions" within NATO, and Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, stated that "deviating" from the 5% military spending target would set a "bad example." "I hope everyone does their part, because, after all, that's why we are an alliance," recalled Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a Christian Democrat, who asserted that "it would make no sense" for some partners to go it alone and advocated for "binding" commitments.

Along the same lines, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever confirmed that "everyone accepts the same text" of the conclusions from the Hague summit and that it is Spain that "interprets" that it is not necessary to reach the 3.5% threshold to meet the military capability objectives demanded by NATO. However, the far-right leader asserted that the Atlantic Alliance is not "stupid" and that, if it calculates that this spending rate is necessary to meet security goals, Spain will also have to allocate that percentage of GDP and not stick to 2.1%, as Sánchez promises. Thus, the Flemish leader ironically stated that if the Socialist leader were the only one to achieve the same thing with less money, he would be a "genius," which would encourage more allies to be "inspired" by this "genius" and violate NATO commitments.

It's worth remembering that, at this time, Spain is the only Atlantic Alliance country that has publicly expressed its opposition to agreeing to a minimum military spending limit of 5%, which is one of Trump's demands. In fact, the US president himself, who is also attending the meeting in The Hague, attacked the Spanish government on Tuesday, calling it a "problem" for its reluctance to increase security funding.

Sánchez's solitary position was evident at the Hague summit. He positioned himself at the far end of the family photo, slightly apart, and then walked to the meeting room alone, without speaking to anyone. Once inside and judoing before the meeting began, he quickly sat down in his chair and didn't speak for a while to any of his counterparts—not even Trump—as is customary at this type of summit.

However, the New York tycoon traveled to the Netherlands full of optimism, and before boarding Air Force One, he predicted that the summit "would be a complete success" for US interests. Rutte also assumed that Spain's opposition would not block the conclusions of the Hague summit and stressed that he is "completely convinced that they will be approved unanimously." And, once again, the NATO chief bowed down to the US president, telling him that without him, the 5% commitment "would not have been possible," although he admitted that repeatedly congratulating him "might provoke criticism from some people."

Right now, NATO diplomatic sources assume that the allies will ratify the 5% this Wednesday and, in this way, satisfy Trump, who links the United States' protection of Europe to massive rearmament. However, the fine print is tricky: 3.5% of spending is on hard weapons, such as tanks, missiles, or soldiers, and the remaining 1.5% is for broader security purposes, such as infrastructure, cybersecurity, or the fight against terrorism. This formula is designed so that the New York magnate can sell the idea that he has achieved the 5% for defense and, at the same time, the European allies avoid actually allocating as much money as Trump initially intended.