Rutte congratulates Sánchez on the "thousands and thousands of millions" allocated to defense: "He is doing what he has to do"

BrusselsOne hot and one cold. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte usually has kind words for Pedro Sánchez's government because it has substantially increased military spending, while at the same time reminding him that it will have to continue increasing it at forced marches. Thus, at the press conference for the annual report on the military capabilities of the Atlantic Alliance, the Dutch leader congratulated Spain for increasing its defense spending from 1.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 to 2% last year, although he reminded him that to meet NATO's security objectives, it will have to progressively increase this rate, reaching 3.5% by 2035.

Rutte recalled that he received a call from Sánchez last April in which he announced the increase in military spending and stressed that an increase of about six percentage points in military spending over GDP "represents thousands and thousands of additional millions structurally spent on defense." "Spain is really doing what it has to do," stressed the NATO Secretary General.

However, after these compliments, Rutte once again issued a warning to Sánchez. The former Dutch prime minister recalled that Spain also agreed to increase NATO's military capabilities at the Hague summit last year and, therefore, believes that it will have to reach 3.5% of military spending if it wants to achieve the agreed objectives. That is to say, he does not trust that with a lower percentage —Sánchez promises 2.1%— than the rest of the allies it can achieve the same. "Spain signed the declaration [from the Hague summit]. But there was also disagreement in the agreement, and we believe that Spain must spend 3.5%," insisted the leader of the Atlantic Alliance.

It should be remembered that Spain has historically been at the bottom of NATO military spending and, although it is still the fourth ally that allocates the least percentage of GDP to it, it has doubled the rate over the last ten years: it has gone from 0.9% in 2014 to 2% last year. They register the same as the State; Albania, Canada and Belgium, which also reach the minimum spending target and have reached 2%.

The US, the only ally reducing military spending

European allies and Canada have not stopped increasing military spending since 2015, especially from the start of the war in Ukraine. In 2023, the increase in the percentage of GDP allocated to defense already rose four points compared to the previous year, to 8.2%. However, in 2024 the rate already climbed to 19.4% and last year it remained at a similar rate, at 19.6%. In total, NATO calculates that more than one trillion additional dollars have been spent on defense over these last eleven years.

All allies have substantially increased military spending, except for the United States. The country led by Donald Trump is the only one that has reduced the rate: in 2014 above 3.5% and now below 3.20%. Despite this, the North American power, which is the one that actually controls de facto the Atlantic Alliance, continues to be the partner that contributes the most: 838 trillion dollars out of a total of 1,412. That is to say, quite more than half.

The only ones that proportionally exceed the US are some of the Eastern European allies, those who feel most threatened by Vladimir Putin's expansionism. Poland is first on the list, with 4.3%, followed by Lithuania (4%) and, among others, Latvia (3.7%). As for the major economies of Europe, Germany has also increased the figure significantly, to 2.39%, the United Kingdom is at 2.31%, France at 2.05% and Italy at 2.01%.

Rutte soaps Trump

The Secretary General of NATO has once again come out in defense of Trump, ignoring the threats and insults he has launched in recent days against European allies for not getting involved in the war he himself started in the Middle East. Thus, Rutte has justified that the US president did not notify the members of the Atlantic Alliance of the attack to avoid leaks and "keep the campaign secret".

Furthermore, as usual, Rutte has taken advantage of the questions he has been asked about the President of the United States to assure that the Atlantic Alliance is "stronger than ever" and has insisted that it is thanks to Trump. "I do not believe that without the current American administration, all NATO allies would have reached 2% by 2025," stressed the Dutch leader.