Politics

Spain to increase military spending to reach 2% of GDP by 2029

Madrid, Jun 30 (EFE).- Spain will increase its defense spending to 2% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2029, prime minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday.

“Spain will fulfill its commitment to Nato and to the European Union to allocate 2% of the GDP to the defense budget,” Sanchez told a press conference at the end of a Nato summit in Madrid.

“The proposal I am going to make to parliament is to reach this 2% in a period of eight years, by 2029,” he added.

Spain’s current military spending barely exceeds 1%.

Sanchez said he hoped that the plan to increase military spending would be backed by the whole country to “defend and guarantee” security in Spain and in Europe.

“We must move forward,” the prime minister urged, referring to the threat posed by Russia and its invasion of Ukraine which has caused a “tectonic shift” in global order.

Earlier on Thursday, Sanchez met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and thanked him for Turkey’s support in strengthening the southern flank of the Alliance.

“The Strategic Concept makes it very clear that every inch of the Nato territories will be defended,” Sanchez said, referring to Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla in north Africa.

“Ceuta and Melilla are Spain, we have always understood it that way.

“I think this is a more artificial debate than a real debate,” he added. EFE

int-mp/ks

Related Articles

Back to top button