"Spain is a loyal ally and plays a crucial role in NATO, even through contributions to our missions and activities. I welcome Spain's recent decision to accelerate investment in Defense." The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization values the Government's decision to increase military spending by more than 10,000 million, a measure explained by President Pedro Sánchez in Congress on Wednesday.
However, at the same time, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands already points to the new target that the Alliance will set at the Hague summit, which will be at least 3% and is very likely to be raised to 3.5%. "We are working hard to ensure that we can achieve it," Rutte points out in an interview with EFE when asked about this new target.
"Paving the way for NATO to become a stronger, fairer, and more lethal Alliance," continues the Secretary General, emphasizing what he has pointed out on numerous occasions: that 2% is now just a floor and that acceleration to higher levels is necessary. This has been stated by him and also by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Rutte has emphasized that investing more is vital because the existing challenges "are significant." "They require all of us to do more and invest more to be prepared today and in the future. The sooner we do it, the safer we will be," he stated.
The Secretary General has also referred to the disparity between the Defense investment figures recently provided by NATO and those indicated by Sánchez when presenting his plan. According to the Alliance, Spain barely spent 1.24% of its GDP on military matters by the end of 2024, while the Government raised the figure to 1.4%.
This difference is relevant because, in addition to being a correction to the Government, it would mean that the investment announced by Sánchez would not be sufficient to reach 2% this year. The Government stated that this disparity was because NATO had calculated with outdated data and that it had sent new information to the Alliance showing that the figure was already at 1.4% by the end of the previous year.
"The figures we published for Spain in 2024 are an estimate and are updated as Spanish authorities provide new information. This is a regular process, and changes in the percentage are not uncommon for many allies. Spain has just sent new information about its Defense spending for 2024, which our NATO experts are now processing," thus validating what the Government pointed out although without confirming that the figure is 1.4%.
Regarding the commitment of the United States and Donald Trump to NATO, Rutte has stated that the U.S. President has shown in his meetings his desire to remain in the Alliance. "The commitment is clear, as is the expectation that European allies and Canada step up," meaning that they invest more.