Spain has agreed with NATO to be excluded from the Alliance's new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035. This was announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on national television.
Spain to spend 2% of GDP on defense
“Allocating 5% of GDP to defense would be disproportionate and excessive,” Sanchez emphasized.
He stressed that Spain respects the decision of other countries to increase their security spending, but does not intend to do so itself. According to the Prime Minister, the state is capable of fully fulfilling its NATO commitments in terms of equipment and personnel, spending 2.1% of GDP.
On Thursday, June 19, Sanchez sent a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, formally announcing the country's intention not to join the initiative. This raised concerns that Madrid's position could derail the upcoming summit.
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Spain currently has the lowest level of defense spending among the alliance countries — just 1.28% of GDP in 2023, according to NATO estimates. In April this year, the Sánchez government announced its intention to accelerate the increase in spending to the current target of 2%.
Diplomats said today that all 32 NATO member countries had agreed on a joint statement for the summit that sets a goal of spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that NATO member countries intend to agree to a new defense goal of spending up to 5% of GDP on defense over ten years.
