Last week Spain rejected NATO’s proposal to spend 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) and the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it is “unreasonable.”
All other alliance allies have agreed to meet the 5% of GDP commitment and Sanchez sent NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte a letter said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” at the NATO summit.
Sánchez wrote in the letter that was seen by The Associated Press, “For Spain, committing to a 5% 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.”
Spain spends less that 2% of GDP on defence despite vowing to raise defence spending by €10 billion this year in an attempt to hit the 2% target.
Speaking at the NATO summit at The Hague the US President said on Wednesday that Spain will “pay twice.”
Donald Trump said, “They’re doing very well, the economy is very well, and that economy could be blown right out of the water if something bad happened.
We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal, we’re going to make them pay twice as much. I’m actually serious about this.”
