Spain, which spends only about 1.3 percent of its GDP on defense, is unhappy with NATO's new plan to spend 5 percent of its GDP budget on defense.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states have agreed to increase defense spending amid rising geopolitical tensions. According to international media, at the NATO annual summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, its heads of state will make a commitment to increase defense spending to 5 percent of the gross domestic product.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of the conference that it would not be difficult for all 32 member states to agree on increasing defense spending.
In an interview with The Guardian, Secretary-General Rutte said that NATO members had agreed to increase defense spending, noting that "a lot is at stake" because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. "The security situation has changed so much that when the time comes to defend (if a NATO member is attacked) we will have to fulfill our commitments to a collective effort," The Guardian quoted Root as saying. US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and others are attending this annual summit of the military alliance of European and North American countries. The conference is being held in The Hague, Netherlands.
The Russia-Ukraine war has entered its fourth year and the conference is about to be held in the background of the Israel-Iran war. Although Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, the situation in the Middle East is not expected to calm down immediately.
Speaking in his hometown of The Hague, former Dutch Prime Minister Rutte described Russia as the 'most important and direct threat' to NATO. He estimated that Moscow could attack NATO members within the next three to five years. "They (Russia) want to expand their territory, they've been repositioning themselves rapidly for a few years now," says Root.
Despite its $2 trillion economy compared to NATO's $50 trillion economy, General Secretary Rutte claims that Russia is "producing four times more ammunition" than the entire NATO alliance. "Therefore, we must ensure that we increase investment in our defense sector," he said. At present, European countries are more dependent on American military support, and Trump and the United States have been complaining about the increase in their spending.
Since his appointment as secretary-general in 2024, Root has been tasked with resolving NATO's strained relationship with the US president. This tension has sometimes called into question the very existence of the alliance. Root, who has had a positive relationship with Trump, has emphasized that Trump is "absolutely committed" to NATO.
As the summit approaches, Spain has signaled that it will not join NATO, expressing displeasure with the new plan to spend 5 percent of its GDP budget on defense. Spain spends only about 1.3 percent of its GDP on defense. This is much lower than other western countries. After that, Trump expressed his anger at the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government. "As much as others have spent, Spain should also spend as much," Trump said on Friday, "Madrid is also infamous for spending less in the defense sector."
