<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, assured this Thursday, after meeting with representatives of the parliamentary groups, that Spain is "prepared to comply with the defense budget of 2% of GDP." However, he warned that the government is not yet in a position to provide specific dates or figures and assured that he himself will not do so on March 26, when he appears before Congress to discuss this issue.</strong></h4> "Spain is prepared to comply with the defense budget of 2% of GDP" and is also prepared to "bring forward that commitment before 2029," Sánchez declared at the press conference held at the Moncloa Palace at the end of his round of meetings with the parliamentary groups. “The Nordic, Baltic, and Central European countries showed solidarity with countries that suffered the most from the pandemic, like Spain, and today they are calling on us for that solidarity so that together we can stop the threat posed by Putin's Russia,” he continued. In this context, he warned, “the important thing is not to spend more, the important thing is to spend well and together,” because what is a threat to societies in the east and north is not a threat to Spain. “The threat to Spain is not Russia; our threats are hybrid: they are cyberattacks, terrorism, the climate emergency in the Mediterranean,” and therefore, “we must not only talk about defense, but also about security,” a “broader concept, linked more to the south than the north.” This increase in investment in security, Sánchez explained, could be “an opportunity for Spain,” for the development of “the technology and security of our country,” and for “startups and entrepreneurs, accompanied by large companies, to take a step forward.” Separately, Sánchez recalled, and conveyed this to the parliamentary groups, that Spain has advocated before the EU that the €150 billion financial instrument proposed by the European Commission to help member states increase their defense spending "be provided not only through loans, but also through transfers." "Northern European countries may think this is in the interest of Spain and southern Europe, but that's not true. We are asking for it above all for those countries" closer to Russia and who, therefore, feel more threatened, he asserted. Regarding the possibility of reaching 2 percent, Sánchez recalled that this commitment was the result of "an agreement accepted by Mariano Rajoy's government in 2014 at the NATO Summit in Wales." "When I came to power in Spain in 2018, the defense budget was less than 1 percent," and therefore, Rajoy's agreement was "for others to comply with," he continued. “We took that budget, less than one percent of GDP, and we've increased it by more than €10 billion over these seven years,” he explained. “Ultimately, we're talking about the result of a ratio of military spending to GDP, and the great news is that Spain has increased its GDP,” he continued. “If we're talking about absolute figures, Spain is the tenth largest contributor to the Atlantic Alliance, but it doesn't matter, we'll reach two percent, and the important thing is to invest well,” he added. Regarding a possible roadmap to reach that two percent by 2029, Sánchez preferred not to give dates or figures, and even specified that he would not announce them during his March 26 appearance before Congress, because Spain's defense budget according to NATO metrics is not yet known. The 2023 budget was 1.28% of GDP, but the 2024 figure is not yet known, he specified. At the next NATO summit, to be held in June in The Hague, "the degree of compliance with that two percent will be substantiated," he added. <h5><strong>Feijóo</strong></h5> Pedro Sánchez declined to go into detail regarding the criticisms made by the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, after their meeting at La Moncloa Palace, in which he denounced that the Prime Minister had not provided him with "anything" and had shown him that the government "has no plan" to increase military investment. Feijóo also stated that Sánchez had not given him "any answers" to his questions about "whether he is willing to send troops and more weapons to Ukraine" or about "what percentage of GDP" will be allocated to defense spending or "whether the current defense budget will be increased." He also demanded that any agreements adopted be "endorsed by Congress," because "only Congress has the power to control and approve government spending." According to Sánchez, the meeting with Feijóo was "correct and cordial," despite the disastrous image conveyed by the PP leader. "Even on this, we can disagree. I'm left with the positive aspects of these meetings." He also recalled that "other governments plunged Spain into an unjust war without going through Parliament." <h5><strong>Albares</strong></h5> For his part, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares denounced this Tuesday that the statements made by Alberto Núñez Feijóo after his meeting with Pedro Sánchez demonstrate that he is "not up to the task." “Mr. Feijóo had a 45-minute conversation” in which “I am sure he received all the necessary information to maintain the dialogue,” Albares declared during a press conference at the Moncloa Palace to discuss Pedro Sánchez’s round of talks with the parliamentary groups. According to the minister, Feijóo’s remarks to the press after his meeting with Sánchez demonstrate that he “is not up to the task.” “These are times when Spain needs a state opposition, not an opposition that undermines the government,” he warned. “He shares the analysis that the president has conveyed to him of the situation, and what I don’t understand is why he isn’t part of the solution, and hasn’t wanted to be,” he continued. “He has preferred to delve into issues of attrition and opposition to the government instead of being a state opposition,” he lamented. “These are times that require unity, and if we are achieving that unity among all Europeans, including many governments that are part of the European People’s Party family—the President of the European Commission (Ursula von der Leyen) is one of them—I don’t understand why Mr. Feijóo couldn’t join the position that all Europeans need right now,” he added. Albares clarified that Pedro Sánchez will appear before Congress on March 26 to address these issues and stated, regarding the increase in defense spending, that there is currently a debate within the EU “about what portion corresponds to national budgets” and what portion corresponds to the possible European funding plan. “The quantification of defense spending is done according to the criteria established by NATO, as for the rest of the allies,” he added. The minister also clarified that “no one is considering” sending troops to Ukraine and that neither the president of that country, Volodymyr Zelensky, nor the Ukrainian government “are requesting that no one send any type of troops to that war,” because “to talk about a hypothetical peacekeeping force, and here we are entering into political fiction, there must first be peace, and unfortunately, at the moment there isn’t one.”
