Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated 5% defense spending proposal as ‘unreasonable’
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Spain rejects NATO’s 5% defence spending hike as ‘counterproductive’
Spain has asked to opt out of NATO’s defence spending target of 5% of GDP. The country currently spends 1.28% of its GDP on defence, the lowest in the alliance. The move is seen as a threat to the European Union’s plans to increase defence spending to meet the target of 2% by the end of the decade. The proposal has been rejected by all but one of the alliance’s 32 members, including the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. The Netherlands is the only country to have met the target and is expected to do so again this year. The United States is also expected to meet its target of 3% by 2018, but has threatened to withhold funding if it does not meet it.
In a letter addressed to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged the alliance to adopt a more flexible framework, according to media reports.
The letter, seen by the Reuters and Associated Press news agencies, called for either the target to remain optional or for Spain to be exempt entirely.
“Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive,” Sanchez wrote, warning that it would undermine efforts by the European Union to build its own security and defence base. “As a sovereign Ally, we choose not to.”
Sanchez insisted Madrid does not intend to block the outcome of the upcoming summit. But any agreement on increased defence spending must be approved unanimously by all 32 NATO members, giving Spain leverage to delay or water down the deal.
Spain currently spends approximately 1.28 percent of its GDP on defence, the lowest among NATO members, according to alliance estimates. While Sanchez has pledged to accelerate the country’s path to NATO’s current 2 percent goal, he argues that going beyond that risks harming the welfare state and compromising Spain’s broader policy vision.
NATO’s push for higher spending follows calls by US President Donald Trump and others to share the burden more fairly across the alliance. Rutte has suggested a new formula that allocates 3.5 percent of GDP to core military spending and an additional 1.5 percent to broader security needs.
Pressure to increase defence spending
The United States, NATO’s largest military contributor and Ukraine’s main backer since Russia’s 2022 invasion, is estimated to have spent 3.38 percent of its GDP on defence in 2024. Trump has repeatedly claimed European allies are not pulling their weight, and has threatened to withhold support for those who fall short.
Sanchez, however, said rushing to meet a 5 percent target would force EU states to buy military equipment from outside the bloc, damaging the continent’s attempts to bolster self-sufficiency in defence.
The proposal also faces resistance from Spain’s political left. The left-leaning Sumar party, part of Sanchez’s coalition, opposes the move, while Podemos, not in government but often a key parliamentary ally, has also rejected it.
“If the government needs parliamentary support to approve spending, it will have a very difficult time in the current situation,” said Josa Miguel Calvillo, a professor of international relations at the Complutense University of Madrid, speaking to Reuters.
Italy has also raised concerns, reportedly seeking to shift the proposed deadline for the new target from 2032 to 2035 and drop the requirement to increase spending by 0.2 percent annually.
One senior European official told Reuters that Spain’s rejection complicates talks but said discussions are ongoing. “It doesn’t look good, indeed, but we are not over yet. Spain has demonstrated to be a steadfast ally so far.”
Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated 5% defense spending proposal as ‘unreasonable’
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Spain rejects Nato plan for member states to spend 5% of GDP on defence
Pedro Sánchez says spending 5% of GDP on defence would be incompatible with Spain’s welfare state and its vision of the world. He said he wanted there to be a “more flexible formula’ that would either make the target optional or allow Spain to opt out. The proposal was advanced by the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, in response to Donald Trump’s demands for a 5% target. Spain currently lags well behind other western nations by dedicating only about 1.3% of its GDP to defence spending, well short of the current Nato target of 2%. It has suggested atarget of 2.1%.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has rejected Nato’s proposal for member states to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP, saying the idea would “not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive”.
Sánchez said that he was not seeking to complicate next week’s Nato summit in The Hague, but he wanted there to be a “more flexible formula” that would either make the target optional or allow Spain to opt out.
The proposal – advanced by the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, in response to Donald Trump’s demands for a 5% target – suggests member states agree to raise defence spending to 3.5% of their GDP and commit a further 1.5% to wider security spending.
In a letter to Rutte that emerged on Thursday, Sánchez questioned the possible consequences of such a rise, saying it would be incompatible with Spain’s welfare state and its vision of the world.
“Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive because it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem,” he said.
“It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign ally, we choose not to.”
Spain currently lags well behind other western nations by dedicating only about 1.3% of its GDP to defence spending, well short of the current Nato target of 2%. It has suggested a target of 2.1%.
Two months ago, Sánchez announced a €10.5bn (£9bn) “industrial and technological plan for security and defence” to help Spain hit the 2% target by the end of the year, saying it had become obvious “only Europe will know how to protect Europe” from now on.
Asked for comment about Spain’s request, a Nato official told Reuters: “Discussions among allies on a new defence investment plan are ongoing.”
Trump increased pressure on the alliance in January, saying the US had shouldered the global defence burden for too long and that he would ask all members to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP.
Rutte has urged member states to use the threats from Washington as an incentive to take unilateral action on raising defence contributions. He said last month that the pressure was already paying off in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy.
“I tell them that, well, now I am calling you to ask you to deliver the 2% by the summer, so that collectively we can move considerably north of the 2% because we have to spend much, much more,” he said in March.
Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated 5% defence spending proposal as ‘unreasonable’
Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence needs that’s due to be announced next week. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in a letter sent on Thursday to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” Most US allies in NATO are on track to endorse Trump’S demand that they invest 5% of GDP on their defence and military needs. Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in a letter sent on Thursday to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” at next week’s NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands.
Any agreement to adopt a new spending guideline must be made with the consensus of all 32 NATO member states. So Sánchez’s decision risks derailing next week’s summit, which US President Donald Trump is due to attend, and creating a last-minute shakeup that could have lingering repercussions.
Most US allies in NATO are on track to endorse Trump’s demand that they invest 5 per cent of GDP on their defence and military needs. In early June, Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target. A NATO official on Thursday said that discussions between allies were ongoing about a new defence spending plan.
“For Spain, committing to a 5 per cent target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain away from optimal spending and it would hinder the EU’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem,” Sánchez wrote in the letter seen by The Associated Press. Spain was the lowest spender in the trans-Atlantic alliance last year, directing less than 2 per cent of its GDP on defence expenditure.
Sánchez said in April that the government would raise defence spending by 10.5 billion euros (USD 12 billion) in 2025 to reach NATO’s previous target of 2 per cent of GDP.
On Thursday, Sánchez called for “a more flexible formula” in relation to a new spending target — one that either made it optional or left Spain out of its application.
Sánchez wrote that the country is “fully committed to NATO,” but that meeting a 5 per cent target “would be incompatible with our welfare state and our world vision.” He said that doing so would require cutting public services and scaling back other spending, including toward the green transition. Instead, Spain will need to spend 2.1 per cent of GDP to meet the Spanish military’s estimated defence needs, Sánchez said.
At home, corruption scandals that have ensnared Sánchez’s inner circle and family members have put the Spanish leader under increasing pressure to call an early election, even from some allies.
Increased military spending is also unpopular among some of Sanchez’s coalition
partners.
Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated defense spending increase as ‘unreasonable’
Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated defense spending increase as ‘unreasonable’ Spain is the lowest spender in the 32-nation military alliance, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure.
MADRID (AP) — Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5% of GDP on defense needs that’s due to be announced next week, calling it “unreasonable.”
In a letter sent Thursday to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” at next week’s NATO summit in The Hague.
Most U.S. allies at NATO are on track to endorse U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense and military needs. In early June, Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target.
Spain is the lowest spender in the 32-nation military alliance, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure.