There is agreement. Finally, the Executive has achieved the objective of Not having to increase defense spending up to 5% of GDP as required by NATO. The secretary general of the organization, Mark Rutte, has confirmed it during the afternoon of this Sunday to the government of Spain, which He has caused Sánchez to accept the statement of the Hague Summit next week.
Thus, NATO ensures the ‘yes’ of Spain to the statement that will be signed at the summit next Tuesday in The Hague. Thus, Spain is allowed to defense the percentage of GDP that it considers necessary, as long as the objectives of military capacities approved by the Ministers of Defense of the Alliance on June 6 are met.
This commitment is reflected in a letter that the NATO general secretary, Mark Ruttehe sent this Sunday to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchezin which he recognizes the particular situation of Spain. “Spain is convinced that it can meet the new skills objectives agreed with a spending trajectory of less than 5% of GDP,” says Rutte in the letter.
“In view of its letter, I am inclined to confirm that the agreement of the next NATO summit will give Spain the necessary flexibility to determine its own sovereign trajectory to achieve the objective of capacities and the necessary annual resources as a percentage of GDP, and to present its own annual plans,” confirms the NATO political chief.
As sources have confirmed to Europa Press, the negotiations at the last minute focused on overcoming the objections of Spain, which will be linked to the statement of the summit, that consolidates the expenditure objective of 5% within a decade, and will apply to the 32 allies.
Sánchez: “We are going to spend 2.1%, neither more nor less”
In a press conference from the Poncloa Palace, Pedro Sánchez has announced the agreement. “We are not going to do it”the President of the Government has asserted. As for the pact, he has described it as “very positive” since it allows “to comply with the transatlantic alliance” and “preserve its unit” without increasing defense spending.
Sanchez stressed that within the Alliance, “asymmetry is normal and inevitable” and stressed that “there are clear economic differences between allies”, since “producing capacities costs half in some countries.”
“Go from 2% to 5% in defense for 2035 It implies spending about 350,000 million euros, Only possible if about 3,000 euros annually the taxes on workers are eliminated unemployment, illness or maternity aid, “he explained.
