Trump slams Spain for refusing to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP like other NATO members, says it is terrible and threatens to make them pay double
NATO leaders have agreed to increase their defence spending to 5% of the GDP by 2035, as demanded by US president Donald Trump. At a meet at The Hague on Wednesday, the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization finally accepted the US demand after dodging it for several months.
However, Spain has refused to agree with the demand, resulting in an angry outburst from Trump. Ahead of the meeting today, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had said on Thursday he would not commit to the 5% target. Spain has committed to spend 2.1% of GDP to meet NATO’s core military requirements, up from current 2%.
Saying that his country can raise its expenditure to 2.1%, Pedro Sanchez said “nothing more, nothing less.” He said that Spain will meet the alliance’s ambitious new weapons and troop targets, but without committing to the price tag that NATO had attached to it.
Sanchez had said that increasing spending on defence will result in drastic cuts on social spending such as state pensions, or tax hikes, and he was unwilling to do the same. At that time also, Trump had said that Spain “has to pay what everybody else has to pay”, adding that Madrid was “notorious” for low defence spending.
As Spain finalised its decision today, Trump said that it is terrible what they have done, and Spain is the only NATO country to not hike defence spending. He also threatened to double tariff on Spain to make it pay.
Trump said, “You’re the only country that is not paying. I don’t know what the problem is,” adding that Spanish economy is doing well. He further said, “We’ll make it up. You know, we’re going to do, we’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We’re going to make them pay twice as much. And I’m actually serious about that.” He added that the economy of Spain may blow if something happens.
However, Madrid said that they are downplaying Trump’s remarks. A spokesperson said, “We downplay Trump’s comments and we emphasize our commitment to NATO.”
As per a joint declaration issued by NATO, other member nations will increase their defence spending target from 2% of gross domestic product to 5% by 2035, marking a massive increase. US has been demanding this increase, arguing that it contributes to the majority of NATO expenses, and it can’t continue. Notably, some member states have yet to meet the 2014 target to spend 2% of GDP on defence.
Of the 5%, “at least” 3.5% of GDP will be spent on “pure” defence related activities, with the remainder 1.5% can be sent on other security and defence-related “critical infrastructure” to ensure “our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen our defence industrial base,” the statement said.
The allies will be required to submit annual plans “showing a credible, incremental path to reach this goal.” The joint statement said that they are united against “profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism”.
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