Spain does not expect repercussions from not meeting NATO's 5% spending target
FILE PHOTO: Spain's Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo poses after talking to media at the G20 finance leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Tita Barros/File Photo
MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Wednesday his country does not expect any repercussions from its refusal to meet the defence spending target of 5% of gross domestic product to be set by NATO member countries in a Summit held in The Hague.
"Spain will be a responsible ally," Cuerpo said in an interview on Bloomberg TV, as he stressed the country would meet all its military capabilities commitments towards NATO.
"No repercussions should derive from making good on our commitments and from being a reliable NATO ally, covering for the capabilities that we did commit to and that are necessary to defend NATO from the different threats that have been identified by experts," Cuerpo said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday his country would not spend more than 2.1% of its gross domestic product in defence as its military capabilities commitments towards NATO don't require more.
The summit is expected to endorse a higher defence spending goal of 5% of GDP - a response to a demand by US President Donald Trump and to Europeans' fears that Russia poses an increasingly direct threat to their security following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte has disputed the Spanish view but accepted a diplomatic fudge with Sanchez as part of his intense efforts to give Trump a diplomatic victory and make the summit go smoothly.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Charlie Devereux and Aislinn Laing)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
34 minutes ago
- The Star
Soccer-Brighton owner Bloom acquires stake in Scottish club Hearts
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Newcastle United - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - April 27, 2019 Brighton chairman Tony Bloom in the stands before the match REUTERS/Toby Melville (Reuters) -Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom has invested 9.86 million pounds ($13.41 million) to acquire a 29% stake in Heart of Midlothian, the Scottish Premiership club said on Wednesday. Bloom's stake will be in non-voting shares and he has nominated James Franks, a long-time business consultant with experience of football governance, to join the club's board as a non-executive director. "I firmly believe in the club's ability to disrupt the pattern of domination of Scottish football which has been in place for far too long," Bloom said in a statement. "The appointment of James as my representative on the board underlines the importance I attach to my investment in the club. "James has been a trusted associate of mine for many years and I believe that his wealth of experience in the football industry and strong business acumen will be a tremendous asset to the board and to the club." Hearts finished seventh in the Premiership last season, reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals and played in the league phase of the Conference League. Bloom is also an investor in Belgian Pro League team Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, who ended their 90-year wait for the league title in the 2024-25 season. In March, he also reached an agreement to acquire an initial 19.1% stake in Australian A-League side Melbourne Victory. ($1 = 0.7351 pounds) (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
The Star
35 minutes ago
- The Star
US holding peace talks with Iran, says special envoy
Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff attends a meeting in the Situation Room of the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 21, 2025. The White House/Daniel Torok/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NEW YORK (Bernama-dpa): The US has begun talks with Iran on a permanent peace agreement, according to special envoy Steve Witkoff, German Press Agency (dpa) reported. Speaking on Fox News late Tuesday (June 24), Witkoff said that the talks are "promising." "We're already talking to each other, not just directly, but also through interlocutors," he said. The possible agreement would envisage Iran having a civilian nuclear programme but without the enrichment of uranium on Iranian territory, he said. Witkoff dismissed as "completely preposterous" media reports that the US attacks on Iran over the weekend had only set back the nuclear programme by a few months. The centrifuges at Natanz and Fordow were "damaged or destroyed in a way that it'll be almost impossible for them to resurrect that programme for - in my view and in many other experts' views who have seen the raw data - it will take a period of years," he said. On Tuesday, several US media outlets reported, citing an intelligence assessment, that only the entrances to the facility in Fordow, which was built deep into the mountain, had been destroyed, but not the underground buildings themselves. Destroying Iran's nuclear capability was the key stated war aim of Israel's government when it launched attacks on June 13. The US then joined the assault on the nuclear facilities with massive "bunker-busting" bombs. - Bernama-dpa
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Sailing-Ferrari unveils Hypersail project led by Soldini
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Ferrari is seen in the headquarters, in Maranello, Italy, June 15, 2022. Picture taken June 15, 2022. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo MARANELLO, Italy (Reuters) -Ferrari announced its entry into the world of sailing on Wednesday with a Hypersail project led by Italian yachtsman Giovanni Soldini that it said would blend racing tradition with technological innovation. The world's first 100-foot monohull ocean racing yacht with a foil on the keel has been designed by French naval architect Guillaume Verdier and is being built at an undisclosed location in Italy with a launch scheduled for 2026. "It perfectly aligns with Ferrari's tradition, drawing inspiration from our Hypercar, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans," said Ferrari Chairman John Elkann. "Designing a yacht for offshore racing is perhaps the ultimate expression of endurance. Ferrari are Formula One's most glamorous and historic team, present since the start of the championship in 1950, but their more recent success has been at Le Mans where they have won the last three editions. Ferrari said the prototype yacht would have three points of contact to stabilise its flight, including a canting keel to support one of the foils, and would also be the first in the world to be entirely energy self-sufficient. Elkann ruled out any involvement in an America's Cup challenge, with the 2027 edition to be held in the southern city of Naples. "(The) America's Cup is regulated and this boat is thought to go beyond rules," he said. "This project gives us the chance to experiment in new areas." Ferrari gave no details about how much the project would cost, but Chief Financial Officer Antonio Picca Piccon said the investment was planned and there would be no substantial impact on capital expenditure. "The boat will be launched next year and then we'll start a debugging phase which will hopefully last a short time," Soldini told a news conference at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters. "It's obvious that we have quite a defined (time) goal, but the project is so complex that making it public today doesn't seem very wise. "There are a thousand things to put together. We'll definitely put the boat in the water in 2026 but I'm not making any commitments about what quarter." Soldini, a veteran of more than 30 years of solo and crewed ocean competition including two solo round-the-world races, said the aim was to keep the crew as small as possible -- somewhere between eight and 12. Ferrari said 20 people were working full time on the project, with another 80-90 involved, and there would be some technology transfer from the sportscar side -- mostly the F80 supercar unveiled last October. Neither Elkann nor Soldini were forthcoming about what competitions the flying monohull might enter. "Before setting sport (competition) targets, we want to finish what we're doing, developing the boat and bring it to sea. Then we'll see what we can and cannot do," said Soldini. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ken Ferris)
