Pedro Sánchez closed the NATO summit in Madrid this Thursday, visibly satisfied both with its "magnificent organization", as recognized by the Alliance itself and all the Heads of State and Government present, as well as with the scope of the agreements signed. "We Spaniards should feel proud of the outcome of the summit, as it increases the prestige of our country and strengthens Spain's foreign policy", he stressed. “It has been a great opportunity to project the image of a modern, serious, solvent country, committed to international peace and security”, he celebrated. “Spain has strengthened its position on the international stage”, he underlined.
An appointment that has agreed, among other challenges, to increase the Alliance's common funds and economic resources, in line with the increase in its capabilities and its territorial deployment in the face of the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, and also in the face of the southern flank that now contemplates its strategic guide for the next ten years. And that also serves to justify the increase in defense spending committed by Sánchez, despite the misgivings of his partner in the government coalition, United We Can.
With an explicit argument, due to the war in Ukraine: “Security, which is an essential condition to guarantee our model of democratic coexistence, is not guaranteed. We cannot take it for granted, we must protect it day by day, and we must allocate economic resources for it”, argued the Chief Executive.
"I have reiterated to the allies that Spain will fulfill the commitment with NATO and the European Union to allocate 2% of GDP to the defense budget", Sánchez pointed out. A long-term objective, with the horizon set in the year 2029. But that will already begin to be reflected in the general budgets of the State for 2023, whose project has already begun to be prepared by the Ministry of Finance. “The Government is already working to increase defense investment this year. And our scenario, the proposal that I am going to present to the Cortes Generales, is to reach that 2% in a period of eight years, that is, until the year 2029”, he assured.
The question that immediately arises is with what parliamentary majority will Sánchez be able to carry out the next budgets, since neither United We Can nor many of the groups that make up the current majority of the legislature are satisfied with increasing military spending. "I want this proposal to the Parliament to be a country agreement, to defend and guarantee what has been put in question and at risk by Putin's war in Ukraine, and that is the security of Europe, and also to guarantee and reinforce the security of Spain”, he demanded.
For this increase in budgetary spending on defense, and also to validate the agreement with the United States to expand NATO's anti-missile shield at the Rota naval base with two other destroyers, Sánchez has nevertheless demanded the support of both the Popular Party and the the nationalists and the groups to the left of the PSOE. With the argument that, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even Sweden has broken its 200 years of neutrality to request its accession to NATO, as has Finland, and other countries such as Denmark or Germany have changed their traditional postulates regarding the defense spending. "Our responsibility is to review our postulates," he has demanded, looking especially at the left of the PSOE. “A crisis caused by Putin's unilateral and illegal invasion of Ukraine implies a tectonic change in the international order, and that has to make us all reflect. If he has done it to Sweden, governed by social democracy, how can he not also do it to the political forces in Spain? “We must do it,” he has demanded.
“The binomial between solidarity and responsibility is essential for a country committed to the European Union and also to the Atlantic Alliance. Being supportive and responsible means guaranteeing greater investment in defense”, she has argued. “I hope that we can reach a country agreement that transcends ideological issues,” Sánchez confided, looking especially at his left, which he has urged to “act accordingly.” And to a final question from the press about whether he trusts in obtaining the support of his partners in the Government and in Parliament, the chief executive has been blunt: "Yes".
