Spain remains the last major NATO member that has not yet agreed to US President Donald Trumpʼs plan to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2032.
The Financial Times writes about this.
Madrid is being pressured to commit to this goal and allow NATO to announce that all its members will meet the commitment at a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels on June 5, sources say.
Diplomats are scrambling to secure unanimous support for NATO ahead of a summit of alliance leaders in The Hague on June 24, where many hope Trump will embrace promises to increase spending and reaffirm U.S. security guarantees for Europe.
But Spain has yet to confirm it will back the 5% pledge, sources told the FT, potentially blocking a unanimous statement, undermining alliance unity and complicating preparations for the Hague summit.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had “urged Spain to join the allies in spending 5% of GDP on defence” after meeting with the Spanish foreign minister in Washington this week. However, Spain’s Socialist-led government has refused to publicly address the demand.
Spain has long lagged behind in defense spending. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said just this month that Spain would meet NATOʼs current spending target of 2% this year when he unveiled a €10 billion defense investment plan. He had previously said Madrid would reach 2% by 2029.
Under the plan, developed by Secretary General Mark Rutte, allies should commit to spending 3.5% of GDP on core defense spending by 2032 and an additional 1.5% on related spending, including cybersecurity and defense-related infrastructure.
No NATO ally currently spends 5% of GDP on defence under the alliance’s current strict criteria. However, two sources told the FT that the 3.5% figure is more critical, as almost all allies already spend 1.5% on the areas covered by the second part of the target.
- Trump has repeatedly demanded that European leaders invest more money in NATO. He has previously said that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever it wants” with NATO member states that have failed to meet their financial obligations to the alliance.
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