NATO bows to Trump, member states say yes to 5% of military spending: only Spain rebels

Spain is there. Spain is not there. The NATO summit in The Hague, convened to give Trump what Trump is asking for, that is, 5% of the GDP of the 32 member states to be donated to weapons and the like, leaves the answer unanswered. Spain 's signature appears with those of the other 31 members of the Atlantic Alliance at the bottom of the final declaration. Prime Minister Sanchez , however, denies that that signature commits him: "2.1% is a sufficient investment, realistic and compatible with our welfare model" . The Italian Prime Minister denies it: "He signed the same document as us and in the discussion between all 32 I have not heard any criticism whatsoever".

Trump and his Secretary of State Rubio are furious: “ Spain is a problem”. Sanchez remains ineffable: “Spain is always the solution. Never the problem”. He and the US president, sitting side by side at the convivial dinner the previous evening, did not speak to each other. The Donald chatted intensely throughout the evening with the leader sitting next to him on the other side: Giorgia Meloni. Sanchez downplays: “I have not had the opportunity to exchange words with Trump but everyone knows we are reliable” . A celebration of ambiguity. Trump, who overall considers the agreement on the 5% “monumental” takes it worse than very badly. In the press conference he goes on to explicit threats: “What they are doing is terrible and I will not allow it. We will negotiate a trade agreement in which they will pay double with duties”. Sanchez holds firm: “ If we had accepted we would have had to pay 300 billion by 2035 and where would we have gotten them from? From more taxes? From cuts to the welfare state?”.

The Spanish factor is not secondary. The fact that a country can evade the obligation signed by the others exposes the countries for which the rearmament will be more expensive to criticism from internal oppositions, and this is precisely the case of Italy with Schlein who has already gone on the attack: "Meloni should have done like Sanchez ". The precedent will also weigh heavily in the future. The conditions that NATO Secretary Rutte, here in the role of executor of Trump's diktat, has negotiated are remarkably flexible. The goal will have to be reached in 10 years, by 2035, but without a fixed timetable year by year, with a verification that will allow much if not everything to be reviewed in 2029 and with a clause that Italy was very keen on : the defense needs will be different from country to country. "It is clear that the defense of a Mediterranean country like Italy is different from that of a Baltic country" , Giorgia summarizes.

The Italian Prime Minister aims to follow the same path as her German colleague. "A significant part of these resources, if we are good, is used to strengthen Italian companies and this creates an expansionary policy that produces resources in a virtuous circle", explains Meloni and precisely this promise to use rearmament as a driving force for an industrial plan should contribute in large part to ensuring its sustainability. But otherwise, with the Spanish precedent behind them, each State that finds itself in difficulty in 2029 would demand a downward revision of the objective. Trump 's threat to impose very heavy duties on Spain in retaliation opens up another front in the future. The EU countries have decided not to negotiate separately but collectively. The Italian Prime Minister yesterday said she was in favor of accepting tariffs of 10%, an idea that other countries are against. But she stressed that the negotiation does not concern her directly, just as it does not concern any single State: the European Commission is dealing with it.

Trump's claim to impose higher duties on one country than on others, if it is confirmed and given the fickle nature of the American president it is not at all certain, would make an agreement on duties very difficult if not impossible between now and July 9, when the "truce" granted by the White House tycoon expires. In addition to rearmament, the only topic on the table in The Hague was Ukraine. The 32 confirmed "full support" for Zelensky. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK met the Ukrainian president and Rutte at the end of the session, who in his speech had branded Russia as a threat to the present and the future. Zelensky then has a face-to-face meeting with Trump on his agenda. The Europeans have assured the Ukrainian of maximum support. Today's European Council will launch the eighteenth package of sanctions. But at Trump's request the final document does not mention Russian aggression and the US approval of new sanctions is not at all certain.

FROM

David Romoli