Cuerpo Says Spain Defense Spending Is Enough to Meet NATO Needs

Carlos Cuerpo Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg Photo by Dwayne Senior /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — Spain’s Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo has said the country will increase its defense expenditure as much as necessary to achieve NATO capability goals, but is sticking to its resistance to a goal of 5% of GDP.

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Cuerpo told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday that Spain has estimated what it needs to spend and that this amounts to 2.1% of output. He said that Spain will remain a “responsible NATO ally.”  

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NATO leaders are meeting in The Hague for a summit expected to endorse the new investment targets in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The US has been pushing for spending goal of 5% of GDP, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has spent months trying to convince the 32 member countries to accept it to prevent the risk of being left alone without Washington support. 

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While most now agree, Spanish Premier Pedro Sanchez has won an exemption allowing it to “determine its own sovereign path” for reaching weapons and troop targets.

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“This is not related to making good on our commitments or not,” Cuerpo said. “It’s just a different estimation on how much it will cost for Spain to make good on commitments with respect to covering the capabilities of NATO to protect itself.”

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After Sanchez’s resistance, Robert Fico of Slovakia also backed away from the pledge. Canada’s foreign minister, Anita Anand, said she would like the target to be reviewed. 

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“Spain thinks they can achieve those targets on a percentage of 2.1%” of gross domestic product, NATO Rutte told reporters Monday. “NATO is absolutely convinced Spain will have to spend 3.5% to get there.”

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Spain’s reluctance to increase defense expenditure might fuel Trump’s reluctance to honor US commitments under the Alliance’s article 5 that ensures mutual assistance in case of attack.

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“There’s numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right?” Trump said before travelling to The Hague.

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Article 5 is the fundamental pillar of the post-World War II NATO alliance. Yet it has been a longstanding source of resentment for Trump, who has complained that US allies are too reliant on Washington’s defense spending and should contribute more to collective security.

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—With assistance from Kriti Gupta, Guy Johnson and Thomas Gualtieri.

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