The NATO summit begins, marked by controversy over Spanish military spending.

HagueThe United States and NATO corrected Pedro Sánchez the day after he asserted that 2.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on military spending is sufficient to meet the NATO's rearmament objectives. Thus, Spain is no exception within NATO and cannot fall below the military spending targets expected to be agreed upon at the summit beginning this Tuesday in The Hague. Both the Secretary General of the military entity, Mark Rutte, and the US ambassador to the NATO, Matthew G. Whitaker, have insisted that Spain must also allocate 3.5% of GDP to more advanced weapons, such as tanks, soldiers, and missiles, and 1% to cybersecurity and mobility infrastructure. "Spain believes it can achieve [NATO's] capability objectives with 2.1%. NATO is, in fact, convinced that Spain will have to spend 3.5%," Rutte emphasized in a press conference.

This reminder comes as a cold shower for Sánchez. The Socialist leader victoriously announced that he had agreed with Rutte himself not to reach these military spending rates, and the Moncloa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) estimates that staying at 2.1% will be enough to comply with the military capabilities required by NATO. Along the same lines, sources from the Moncloa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) assured that the Atlantic Alliance had agreed to remove from the conclusions to be approved at The Hague summit the requirement that "all allies" must comply with the spending percentages and to list only "allies." This nuance, according to the same sources, is a concept of "constructive ambiguity" that would give Spain greater flexibility in matters of defense spending, since it does not directly address all NATO partners, and it would not be necessary for the State to reach 5%, the rate that Donald Trump has demanded from the outset.

However, the United States shows no sign of giving in to Sánchez on the 5% target or on the language of the NATO summit conclusions. The US ambassador made it clear in statements to the press on Monday that "all allies" will have to commit to reaching 5%, without exception. "Thanks to Trump's bold leadership, NATO is on the path to achieving a historic commitment: that all allies commit to spending at least 5% of GDP on defense," the US representative remarked.

NATO sources assure that the allies have already reached an agreement to reach a minimum of 5% of military spending this Sunday, but the fine print has yet to be finalized, and therefore, it is unclear what the final commitment language will be. The countries most reluctant to rearm to the levels demanded by Donald Trump, such as Spain and Belgium, are pushing to remove the reference to "all allies," but the US insists that the obligation to reach 5% remains immutable and without exception. "We are urging all our allies to step up and pay their fair share for transatlantic security," the US ambassador insisted.

A small print to please Trump

Despite Sánchez's opposition, the NATO summit was generally designed to avoid angering Trump. The most evident aspect of this is that the vast majority of NATO allies have bowed to the Pentagon's demands and have already agreed to increase military spending to at least 5% of GDP. The US has consistently insisted that this figure must be agreed upon, and it is expected that the European allies, despite initial reluctance, will eventually please Trump. However, the fine print is tricky: 3.5% of spending is on hard weapons, and the remaining 1.5% is on a broader security concept designed so the New York magnate can sell the claim that he has secured a total commitment from the NATO alliance to spend 5% on defense and, at the same time, the...

In this regard, several NATO diplomatic sources suggest that the European allies intended to arrive at The Hague summit with all agreements almost finalized. The goal is to prevent Trump from changing his mind at the last minute and making even more ambitious demands. And that's why, in recent days, some of the allies most opposed to increasing military spending, such as Belgium and Italy, have been making public statements that, albeit reluctantly, they are willing to swallow the 5%. Thus, the only one who remains openly opposed is Sánchez.

In fact, this Monday, the Spanish prime minister, in the framework of the 20th anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage, called for peace, diplomacy, and dialogue as opposed to warlike rhetoric, while his predecessor, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was even more forceful: he asserted that thanks to his commitment, "dignity" and social rights will be guaranteed in the future. The People's Party (PP), for its part, did not clarify whether it favors increasing spending to 5% and accused Sánchez of being "a liar without borders." Vox, on the other hand, did support increasing the pace of rearmament. Podemos called the Spanish president's announcement a "mockery," while Health Minister Mónica García (Sumar) welcomed the agreement: "Neither rearmament nor cuts."