Online Reporter
NATO member Spain has roundly rejected demands by United States president Donald Trump and military bloc chief Mark Rutte to increase its spending on militarisation to 5 percent of the country’s GDP.
European members of the NATO are not capable of meeting the US demand, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles insisted to Spanish lawmakers on Friday, dismissing the 5 percent target declared by Rutte at last week’s bloc summit as “absolutely impossible” to achieve.
“Everyone is absolutely convinced that right now there is no industry capable of absorbing 5 percent,” she told the country’s Senate Defence Commission.
“We can say whatever we want, we can dress it up or disguise it, but no industry can take it on.”
Madrid pushed back against the target ahead of the summit in the Netherlands, proposing a more modest 2,1 percent spending level. Last year, Spain stood out as the NATO member dedicating the least percentage of its GDP (1,28 percent) to the military, compared to 4,12 percent in the case of Poland. Robles, however, claimed the comparison is misleading.
According to Robles, European defence companies lack both the skilled workforce and access to raw materials needed to scale up production – even if governments managed to provide the necessary funding. Other NATO members privately acknowledge the same concerns and are stalling for time, she claimed.
Spain is “a serious, reliable, committed, and responsible ally, who speaks less and does more,” Robles told an event at Madrid’s Higher Centre for Defence Studies. – RT.
