The president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez travels to Washington this Tuesday to participate in the summit of NATOwhere will confirm that Spain will fulfill its commitment to reach the goal in 2029 still defense spending of 2% of its GDP despite currently being the ally furthest from that percentage.
It will be at the end of the meeting of the Council of Ministers when he will travel to the United States to participate in the ceremony that will be attended by the Allied leaders to commemorate the 75th anniversary of NATO.
The summit itself will last for the Wednesday and Thursdayand Sanchez goes to her accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence, José Manuel Albares and Margarita Roblesrespectively.
On this occasion His wife does not travel with him, Begoña Gómez, in full investigation and who did accompany him last year at the summit in Vilnius and was also with the President of the Government at some events within the framework of the summit held in Madrid in 2022.
The summit is held after NATO published data that placed Spain as the country of the Alliance that less proportion of its GDP is spent on defensewith a 1.28% this year.
In response to this, Moncloa is sending a message of calm and seriousness and is ensuring that the Firm commitment to reach 2% in 2029as Sánchez promised at the Madrid summit.
Pedro Sánchez says that Spain is third in terms of spending growth
The Government draws attention to the fact that Spain’s GDP is growing well above the European average and that’s why, although increased defense spendingis not reflected in the percentage of GDP as it would like.
Spain is calling for more attention to NATO’s southern flank following the push for this at the Madrid summit two years ago and in light of the situation in the Maghreb, the Sahel and Gaza.
He also emphasizes that Spain is the third country in the Alliance that has increased its defense spending the most In recent years, with a 77% increase since 2016 to this day, and assures that this effort is recognized by both NATO authorities and allies.
Government gives great importance to this summit not only for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Alliance, but for the international context in which it is celebrated, with key issues such as the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Middle East.
The Executive wishes that Washington comes out with a stronger message of support for Ukraine as long as necessary to confront Russian aggression, and affirms that Spain will continue to act in this way as it has committed to in the recent bilateral security agreement that they signed in Madrid. Pedro Sanchez and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Calls for more attention to NATO’s southern flank
But Spain also wants More attention to NATO’s southern flank after the push for this at the Madrid summit two years ago and in view of the Situation in the Maghreb, the Sahel and Gazaand therefore welcomes the adoption of a specific action plan for the South with the appointment of a special representative of the Secretary General of the Alliance for that area.
In this context, in addition to participating in the summit sessions, Sanchez will participate in a panel organized in parallel on the dimension of the NATO to the south.
No meetings with Biden or Starmer
It also provides for a series of bilateral meetings (with their counterparts of New Zealand, Norway and Montenegro) but It is not planned none with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, host from the summit amid voices from his party calling for him to renounce the presidential race, which he has totally rejected.
Sánchez has no meetings scheduled with the host, Joe Biden, nor with the new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
He has not scheduled any meeting with the new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.with whom he will meet again next week in the United Kingdom, where there will be a summit of the European Political Community.
Yes, there is a meeting already announced by Minister Albares with his counterpart from the United Kingdom.David Lammy, to discuss, among other issues, the need to reach an agreement as soon as possible on the situation of Gibraltar after Brexit.
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