Wadephul finds little enthusiasm for defence hike in Spain, Portugal

Yahoo

5 days ago

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited Spain and Portugal on Monday, two NATO members lagging behind drastically when it comes to defence spending, as Germany seeks to shore up support for a massive increase.
Wadephul met with his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares in Madrid, before heading to Lisbon for consultations with Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel.
Since the new German government took office on May 6, Wadephul and Chancellor Friedrich Merz have backed a proposal to increase defence-related spending by NATO members to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), with an additional 1.5% for military infrastructure.
However, Wadephul encountered little enthusiasm for a hike in defence spending in Madrid and Lisbon.
When asked by journalists after the meeting with Wadephul whether Spain was prepared to increase its defence budget to 5% of GDP in the future, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares responded that Spain is making greater efforts in the defence sector than ever before.
However, Albares described the existing NATO target of 2% of GDP as "realistic."
Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel meanwhile said his country would "naturally" support a decision to increase the military budget, but admitted that the target of 2% had "not yet been fully" achieved.
US President Donald Trump, signalling he is tired of European countries piggy-backing on Washington's massive defence budget, is pushing for defence spending to be raised to 5% of GDP.
Spain is currently among the alliance's members spending least on defence, with military expenditure amounting to some 1.3% of GDP - well below the current target of at least 2%.
While Portugal recently raised defence spending, expenditure in Europe's westernmost nation only stood at 1.6% of GDP in 2024.
A new NATO spending target is set to be adopted at the alliance's summit in the Dutch city of The Hague in June.
Wadephul opposes Israel arms embargo during visit
The foreign ministers also discussed the situation in the Middle East, with Wadephul rejecting a Spanish proposal for a weapons embargo on Israel due to its actions in Gaza.
"Nobody is saying that the current situation is acceptable and can be tolerated any longer. Not even Germany," said Wadephul after his meeting with Albares.
However, Wadephul emphasized that Israel's security is a "reason of state" for Germany - a term referring to Germany's historical responsibility following the Holocaust.
"Of course, this also includes the willingness to supply weapons in the future," he said, while admitting that the humanitarian situation in the war-torn Gaza strip "poses a major political and moral dilemma" for Germany.
Spain is in favour of an international arms embargo in the Middle East.
Albares said that his country's initiative was aimed at "getting more and more countries to join in so that peace returns to the Middle East."
More weapons are "the last thing the region needs at the moment," he argued, warning that Gaza should "not be turned into a huge cemetery."
Nevertheless, he insisted that "nothing that Spain is proposing is directed against the State of Israel."
Wadephul urgently appealed to the Israeli government and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to end the conflict through negotiations.
The German foreign minister demanded: "There must be no expulsion from the Gaza Strip. There must also be no policy of starvation."
Instead, the people in the Gaza Strip must be adequately supplied with aid and humanitarian goods, Wadephul said.
He said the situation has "improved somewhat, although not yet sufficiently" after Israel lifted an aid blockade.
"We remain unambiguous in our criticism and also unambiguous in our calls to Israel," he maintained.
Both foreign ministers called for a two-state solution, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas have continued to reject.