Why Spain will spend 2% instead of 5% on weapons and security, the NATO summit waiver and Trump's threats

In order not to raise taxes, to safeguard pensions, to protect investments in education. Spain is not in agreement, having signed the agreement with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the Hague summit but also demanding the tear of what is being described in these hours as a sort of exemption from the 2.1% of GDP for military spending. The agreement came at the culmination of a two-day meeting dominated by the President of the United States Donald Trump who spoke of a “monumental victory”. The tycoon himself attacked the Spanish Prime Minister, threatening retaliation for Madrid’s exemption.

The agreement between the 32 member countries of the Atlantic Alliance has set an increase in military spending of up to 5% , in the division of 3.5 plus 1.5 percent, of annual GDP by 2035. The text of the final declaration provides that the "allies will allocate at least 3.5% of annual GDP, by 2035, to finance basic defense requirements and to meet NATO capability objectives". The 3.5% will be allocated exclusively to military spending, the remaining 1.5% to other security- related costs with investments for example in telecommunications and strategic infrastructure.

The allies reaffirmed in the document their unity “in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism”. They agreed to review the objectives in 2029. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte assured in a letter that the agreement will provide “the right flexibility in achieving military capability objectives”. To take the example of Italy: last year the investment was 33 billion euros, the increase could bring spending in ten years to 78 billion euros.

The Spanish split

Sanchez had already spoken from the beginning of a 2.1% expenditure as “sufficient, realistic and compatible with the welfare state”. Madrid guaranteed that it could reach the established military capacity targets with a percentage of GDP expenditure more than half that of other countries. “NATO wins and Spain wins something very important for our society, namely security and the welfare state”. The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni , assured that Madrid had signed the final conclusions equal for all. And so the controversy began.

Last year, Spain had already failed to reach the 2% target set in 2006. The 2.1% limit would require an effort of 33.4 billion euros, compared to the current 19.7 billion euros. Sanchez thanked his allies "for respecting the sovereignty " of his country. Spain's GDP has shown significant growth rates in recent years, always above 2.5%. The peak is in 2024, with a +3.2%. The prime minister declared that the objective set by the Alliance would cost his country 350 billion euros. "Going from 2 to 5 percent," Sanchez declared, "would force us to go beyond our red lines, it would force us either to drastically increase taxes on the middle class, or to drastically reduce the size of our welfare state." He argued that he did not want to raise taxes, reduce pensions , or cut investments in education .

And he added that he wanted to talk more about collaboration and interoperability than percentages at the European Council in Brussels. The composition of his government is not a negligible detail, considering that the far-left parties would not have allowed a majority in parliament for a plan to increase military spending. And the moment of crisis in the executive due to serious accusations of corruption is not negligible either. To reach 5% of GDP, European countries should spend about 510 billion euros a year on defense.

FROM

Web Editorial Team