Sánchez begins to shift the budget toward defense: 2 billion euros

MadridFor now, NATO does not accept subterfuges to get Spain to increase military spending.Last week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte rejected the idea that investment in cybersecurity, terrorism, and border control could be counted as a percentage of GDP in the defense budget. This Tuesday, the Council of Ministers transferred €2.084 billion to the ministry headed by Margarita Robles. This amount will not be included in the 2024 financial year because NATO provides figures on what was spent during the year in question, but Spain has shown that it will also be involved in strictly military spending. As it has done on other occasions, Sumar has raised objections internally within the Council of Ministers, but the decision has still been approved.

As explained The Country On Saturday, the vast majority of this money will go to weapons: 870 million for a state-of-the-art defense equipment modernization program and another 803 million for the integrated training system for the Air Force and Space Force, the missile defense system to protect Navy ships, and also for maintenance and replacement. The rest, as sources from the ministry also confirm in the ARA, will be dedicated to logistical support programs and ministry management issues, research, and hospital care.

Where does this money come from? Sources from the Ministry of Finance emphasize that it comes from items from other departments that were lump sum payments. As the current budgets are the 2023 extensions, this money was already being spent for an allocation that has already been satisfied and, therefore, can now be redirected elsewhere. What the Treasury has done is accumulate several items from the extended budget that were no longer due and allocate them to Defense, totaling 2.084 billion. As for the military programs to be funded, they were already included in the extended 2023 budget. And didn't they already have a budget? Yes, but the Spanish government explains that these are contracts in which the amount increases year by year, and therefore, it was now necessary to send more budget.

Bypassing Congress

This is the formula through which, for the time being, the Spanish government can increase defense spending without having to go through Congress. This is not a credit modification, which would require the approval of the lower house, but rather a movement between ministries for which the Executive has the authority. In fact, in recent months, it has already been increasing the defense budget in this way. At the same time, Sánchez promised in his appearance in Congress two weeks ago that pre-summer technology investment plan It did not specify how it would be financed. It still remains to be seen how the European Union will be involved in financing the Member States' efforts and how much will have to come from state coffers.