Spain reiterated on Thursday that it does not want to comply with the proposed NATO standard of 5 percent. The country is asking for an opt-out for the increase in the defense standard.
US President Donald Trump is pressuring NATO allies to increase their defense spending. That is why NATO chief Mark Rutte came up with the plan to increase the NATO standard (percentage of GDP) from 2 to 5 percent. Of this, 1.5 percentage points must be deployable for “defense-related matters,” such as cyber security and infrastructure.
Spain is one of the countries that has long opposed an increase in the standard. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reiterated the Spanish position on Thursday and said he had sent a letter to Rutte asking for an exceptional position. This was reported by news agency Reuters, which has seen the letter.
Sánchez is asking for a “more flexible formula” that makes the new NATO standard “optional” for Spain, or that excludes Spain entirely from the new rules.
“Imposing the 5 percent target on Spain would not only be unreasonable, but also harmful,” Sánchez writes. According to him, increased defense spending hinders Spanish economic growth. Moreover, the middle class and the welfare state would have to pay for a higher defense budget.