Spain exempt from Nato's 5pc spending target
Spain will be exempt from spending 5 per cent of its GDP on defence after striking a deal with Nato, the country's prime minister said.
Speaking ahead of this week's Nato summit in The Hague, Pedro Sanchez said he had achieved a 'success' for his country by securing an exception from the new spending target, which had been billed as a strict requirement for all 32 Nato members.
It puts Madrid at odds with Donald Trump, the US president, who has called for a significant increase in defence spending and cast doubt on his willingness to defend Nato allies 'if they don't pay'.
Mr Sanchez said Spain could fulfil its existing commitments to Nato with a defence budget of 2.1 per cent of GDP.
'We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defence investment, but we are not going to do so,' the Spanish prime minister said in a televised address on Sunday.
Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, warned members earlier this month that they must commit to spending 5 per cent on defence spending or 'better learn to speak Russian'. It came after he had warned that Vladimir Putin could attack Nato by 2030.
According to Nato estimates, Spain spent only 1.24 per cent of GDP on defence last year.
In April, Mr Sanchez pledged to increase defence spending to 2 per cent by the end of this year.
Target in doubt
But Spain's Left-wing government is divided on the need to increase military spending and a think-tank linked to the administration has cast doubt on whether the 2 per cent target for this year is feasible.
Mr Sanchez wrote to Mr Rutte last week to say that 5 per cent of GDP was 'unreasonable and counter-productive', arguing that such a commitment would impact the country's social spending and undermine EU plans for technological growth.
On Sunday, it emerged that the agreement Nato leaders will sign at The Hague on Wednesday has been altered to accommodate Spain's objections.
The text on the spending pledge has been changed from 'we commit' to 'allies commit', allowing Mr Sanchez to claim the commitment would not apply to Spain.
Under the plan, countries are meant to reach 5 per cent of GDP by boosting their core defence spending goal from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent, and adding a further 1.5 per cent on related items such as cyber security and adapting roads and bridges for military vehicles.
Mr Sanchez said that Spain needs only to spend 2.1 per cent of GDP to meet its Nato capability targets – the personnel, equipment and infrastructure requirements set by the alliance
The announcement comes at a time of political difficulty for Mr Sanchez, who is under enormous pressure over a corruption scandal within his Socialist party.
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