this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
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Spanish PM rejects Nato’s ‘unreasonable’ 5% GDP target for defence spending – as it happened (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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In a letter responding to Rutte’s proposals for next week’s Nato summit in the Hague, first reported by the Spanish newspaper El País, Sánchez declared his opposition for the proposed change arguing “it is not necessary to fulfil our commitments to the alliance.”

He explained that the figure “has nothing to do with the level of commitment to collective defence,” with Spain confidence it can do enough with lower spending.

He added that adopting the target would have adverse effects for the Spanish economy, as it would force the government to raise taxes, cut public services and slow down its plans on green transition. “We choose not to make those sacrifices,” he reportedly said.

The paper said that the new Nato target had been expected to be adopted unanimously, but Spain’s objection could now trigger further discussions on its adoption.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

But the problem with NATO is far, far deeper. Spain today is in the middle of a scandal for a corruption case involving 0.5 million EUR that has gridlocked the government, when just last week increased its military budget in 7000 million EUR and no one had said for what exactly!

Europeans countries that really want to tackle corruption… focus for these tremendous fund allocations that are not being tracked properly or are we going to do like US shipping planes to Baghdad full of sacks with dollars that practically all went unaccounted for. First was with Covid, then Ukraine (that became the new Baghdad*) and now and for the coming two years will be NATO.

All NATO members, specially European ones, should find ways of leaving NATO because, and we all will see, NATO will end up leaving you when it sees it cannot milk you any more. A PanEuropean coalition would have been an alternative a decade ago, but with the level of vassalism reached today, it would make no difference at all. Going after a model such as Switzerland’s or 1960s Finland’s is best for now.

  • Go to certain Spanish Mediterranean locations and you will see hubris of super wealthy Ukrainians like never seen before 2023).
[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 week ago

Okay comrade.