Sánchez announces an agreement with NATO for not reaching 5% of GDP for military spending

Madrid / BrusselsSpain will only have to allocate 2.1% of GDP to military spending. This was confirmed by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, after reaching an agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte this Sunday in an appearance from the Moncloa Palace. Sánchez explained that an agreement had been reached with the Prime Minister to allocate 5% of GDP to public defense spending. "We [Spain] will allocate 2.1% of GDP to defense. Nothing more, nothing less," Sánchez stated, referring to a letter sent to Rutte. enter into a head-on collision with Donald Trump, who hours later warned that NATO should "take responsibility" for Spain's refusal. Finally, Rutte and Sánchez have reached an agreement to make the achievement of this objective more flexible, which will be reflected in the final declaration of the summit, which begins this Tuesday in The Hague (Netherlands) and is expected to last until June 26.

"It has been a discreet, efficient, and honest diplomatic negotiation," said Sánchez during the appearance without questions this Sunday afternoon. The Spanish government explains that the agreement was unblocked through an exchange of official letters between the Secretary General of NATO and the President of the Spanish Government, in which the former acknowledges that "Spain will have the flexibility to achieve its sovereign objectives," as can be seen in the text to which ARA has had access. Rutte also claims that this spending will be reviewed in 2029. However, this is what led the State to accept the draft final declaration, which in principle saves the summit from failure.

Impact on the welfare state

The Spanish government's main argument to defend its position is that all the money the state would have to allocate to achieve the target of 5% of GDP for defense could not be transferred to maintaining the welfare state, which would automatically weaken it. "Increasing defense spending from 2.1% to 5% of GDP represents an additional €35 billion that could only be achieved by raising taxes or eliminating social benefits," stated Sánchez, who cited drastic cuts to paternity leave, pensions, and education as examples. "Each NATO member has the right and the obligation to accept these sacrifices if they wish to make them," reiterated the Spanish prime minister.

"Spain maintains its commitment to the military capabilities agreed upon with NATO, and that commitment should not be automatically linked to a percentage of GDP," Sánchez argued, adding that the Spanish government's commitment is to deliver "operational capacity, not meet a percentage."

48 hours before the summit

The agreement announced by Sánchez comes less than 48 hours before the start of the first NATO summit since Trump's return to the White House. In fact, imposing a 5% military spending target has been one of his greatest promises, and he has constantly pressured European allies to accept this rate until he finally achieved it. According to sources within the NATO Alliance, all allies have already approved the conclusions that include the goal of reaching this 5%, and it is expected to be ratified at next week's NATO summit in The Hague.

However, a significant portion of the European allies are reluctant to increase military spending so much. Therefore, beyond the changes Sánchez has pushed through at the last minute, the European member states had already managed to modify the fine print of the conclusions of next week's summit. In this regard, of the total 5%, 3.5% will account for more traditional military spending, such as missiles, tanks, or soldiers; the remaining 1.5% will include a broader concept of security and may include the money that states allocate to cybersecurity, border control, the fight against terrorism, and, among others, certain infrastructure.

The timeframes imposed for achieving these spending percentages or military capability targets are also key. In fact, NATO diplomatic sources assert that one of the main objectives in the negotiations of the countries most opposed to increasing defense spending, such as Spain, Belgium, and Italy, is to achieve the widest possible margin to achieve these rates. Currently, the maximum timeframe on the table and expected to be approved is around 2035.

The People's Party (PP) responds

The main opposition party was quick to react. The leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, lamented that Sánchez had opted to "commit military spending for the next ten years, without a budget and without going through Congress." Criticizing "the ball being pushed forward," the conservative leader added in a post on X that "the international press maintains that the final objective remains 5%" and that "Sánchez must answer all the doubts that are arising." "He cannot pretend to continue lying to everyone," he retorted. He even noted that foreign policy cannot be "a smokescreen" to cover up other matters.