Spain has dismissed NATO’s request to spend 5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense, deeming the target “unreasonable.”
In a letter sent Thursday to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target as a percentage of gross domestic product” at the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague.
Most of the United States’ allies in NATO are expected to support U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that they spend 5% of their GDP on military and defense needs. Earlier in June, Sweden and the Netherlands indicated their intent to reach this new target.
Among the 32 member states of the military alliance, Spain currently has the lowest defense spending, allocating less than 2% of its GDP to defense. In April, Sánchez had announced that the Spanish government would increase defense spending by €10.5 billion to meet NATO’s previous target of 2% of GDP.
