Spain refuses to raise the proposed defensive spending before the NATO – National Summit

Success of key NATO The summit was suspended in the balance on Friday, after Spain announced that it could not raise the billions of dollars needed to meet a new Defense investment The pledge demanded by US President Donald Trump.

Trump and his NATO counterparts have been meeting for two days in the Netherlands since next Tuesday. He insists that the United States’ allies must adhere to at least five percent of GDP, but this requires an unprecedented investment.

Trump made doubts about whether the United States would defend allies who spend very little.

Determining the goal of spending will be a historical decision. All 32 countries will be investing the same amount in defense for the first time. Only last week, NATO Secretary -General Mark Retty expressed their confidence that she would support her.

But in a letter to Roti on Thursday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that “the commitment with a goal of 5 percent will not only be unreasonable, but also inverse results.”

“Spain will move out of optimal spending and will hinder the ongoing efforts (the European Union) to strengthen its security and defensive ecosystem,” Sanchez wrote in the letter, which was seen by Associated Press.

Belgium, Canada, France and Italy will also fight billions of dollars in security spending, but Spain is the only country to officially announce its intentions, making it difficult to retract this general decision.

In addition to his economic challenges, Sanchez suffers from other problems. It depends on small parties to rule, and the corruption scandals may move its inner circle and family members. It is exposed to increasing pressure to summon early elections.

In response to the message, Root office only said that “the discussions between the allies on the new defense investment plan are continuing.” The senior civilian officials in NATO were scheduled to return to a new proposal on Friday to try to break the stalemate.

It was also scheduled that the American and French envoys were scheduled to update the reporters about the latest developments that preceded the summit, but their surroundings were postponed.

Roiti and many European allies are desperate to solve the problem by Tuesday so that Trump does not come out, as he did during his first term at the NATO headquarters in 2018.

After Russia’s extensive invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO allies agreed that two percent of GDP must be the minimum they spend on their military budgets. But the new NATO plans to defend its lands against the external attack require an investment of at least three percent. Spain agreed to these plans in 2023.

The target consists of five percent of two parts. The allies will agree to raise the pure defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP. 1.5 percent will go to the upgrade of roads, bridges, ports and airports so that armies can spread them better, and prepare societies for future attacks.

Mathematically, 3.5 plus 1.5 equals Trump five percent. But a lot is hiding behind the numbers and details of the types of things that can be included remain cloudy.

The two countries closest to Russia, Plasia and Ukraine have agreed to the goal, as well as Germany, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, which hosts the June 24-25 summit.

The Netherlands estimate that NATO defense plans will force it to devote at least 3.5 percent for the basic defense spending. This means finding between 16 billion and 19 billion euros (18 billion dollars to 22 billion dollars).

Weapons and ammunition will be included in Ukraine, which is carried out by Spain, as a basic defensive spending.

NATO estimates that the United States spent about 3.2 percent of the GDP of defense last year.

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Additional spending basket of 1.5 percent is more fog. Rutte and many members argue that the infrastructure used to deploy armies in the front must be included, in addition to building defense industries and preparing citizens for potential attacks.

“If there is no tank unable to cross a bridge,” Rott said. “

Spain wanted to spend on climate change, but this proposal was rejected. Cyber ​​security and investment in the anti -cell war should reduce. However, with all guessing about what can be included, it is difficult to see how Rutte has reached this number 1.5 percent.

It is not enough to agree to spend more money. Many allies have not yet reached the goal of two percent, although most of them will get this year, and they had a decade to get there. So the incentive is required.

The date of 2032 was put on the deadline. This is much shorter than the previous NATO targets, but the two military planners estimate that Russian forces can be able to launch an attack on an ally within five to 10 years.

The United States insists that it cannot be an open pledge, and that the contract is very long. However, Italy says it wants 10 years of reaching a five percent goal.

Another issue is how quickly spending is. “I have a cunning plan for that,” Root said. He wants the allies to make annual plans to put how much they intend to increase spending.

For Europe, Russia’s war on Ukraine poses an existential threat. The blame is blaming a significant altitude in sabotage, electronic attacks and GPS jamming accidents on Moscow. European leaders wander around their citizens for more.

The United States also insists that China is a threat. But in order for the European people to support a picnic to spend on the national defense, their governments require recognition that the Kremlin is still the biggest security challenge in NATO.

The required billions for security will be raised by taxes, entry to debts, or mixing money from other budgets. But it will not be easy for many, as Spain has shown.

Moreover, Trump made matters more strictly strive by launching a global introductory war – outwardly for American security reasons – something that America’s allies find it difficult to understand.