<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte asserted this Monday that the Atlantic Alliance “has no exemptions or parallel agreements” and warned that Spain should allocate at least “3.5%” to military spending if it wants to achieve the capability targets it has committed to with the organization.</strong></h4> “As far as Spain is concerned, NATO has no ‘exemptions’ or parallel agreements,” Rutte asserted one day after President of the Government Pedro Sánchez announced during a public statement at Moncloa Palace that an agreement had been reached with NATO to make defense spending more flexible and, therefore, to avoid requiring Spain to reach the 5% of GDP target demanded by both the United States and the organization's Secretary General. “All Allies agree on the military capability targets and have recently accepted those goals,” Rutte declared at the press conference ahead of the Hague Summit, which is being held this Tuesday and Wednesday in The Hague. “Spain has accepted the targets and believes it can meet them with spending of 2.1% of GDP, while NATO expected slightly higher spending, around 3.5%,” he continued. “However, we are confident that Spain will meet those targets,” he added. “We are an Alliance that fights and defends together, and I have always had great respect for Spain’s contribution to NATO, which actively participates in many missions,” he continued. “What all Allies will do is, of course, exercise their sovereign right and have the flexibility to determine their own path and comply with NATO commitments.” "That means how much they will spend annually, and this is exactly what we are doing," he explained. "The big difference compared to the 2014 spending commitment is that there will now be annual reports on what nations are spending and regular reviews of what is happening. In 2029, we will take stock, including the international security situation, to decide whether we need to collectively increase spending, for example," Rutte said.
