Spain rejects Nato plan for member states to spend 5% of GDP on defence

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has rejected Nato’s proposal for member states to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP, saying the idea would “not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive”.

Sánchez said that he was not seeking to complicate next week’s Nato summit in The Hague, but he wanted there to be a “more flexible formula” that would either make the target optional or allow Spain to opt out.

The proposal – advanced by the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, in response to Donald Trump’s demands for a 5% target – suggests member states agree to raise defence spending to 3.5% of their GDP and commit a further 1.5% to wider security spending.

In a letter to Rutte that emerged on Thursday, Sánchez questioned the possible consequences of such a rise, saying it would be incompatible with Spain’s welfare state and its vision of the world.

“Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive because it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem,” he said.

“It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign ally, we choose not to.”

Spain currently lags well behind other western nations by dedicating only about 1.3% of its GDP to defence spending, well short of the current Nato target of 2%. It has suggested a target of 2.1%.

Two months ago, Sánchez announced a €10.5bn (£9bn) “industrial and technological plan for security and defence” to help Spain hit the 2% target by the end of the year, saying it had become obvious “only Europe will know how to protect Europe” from now on.

Asked for comment about Spain’s request, a Nato official told Reuters: “Discussions among allies on a new defence investment plan are ongoing.”

Trump increased pressure on the alliance in January, saying the US had shouldered the global defence burden for too long and that he would ask all members to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP.

Rutte has urged member states to use the threats from Washington as an incentive to take unilateral action on raising defence contributions. He said last month that the pressure was already paying off in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy.

“I tell them that, well, now I am calling you to ask you to deliver the 2% by the summer, so that collectively we can move considerably north of the 2% because we have to spend much, much more,” he said in March.