Moncloa asserts that NATO’s own data supports its position during the Ankara Summit

Eduardo González The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, is participating in a NATO Summit in Ankara starting this Wednesday, where he will inevitably face criticism from other allies, especially the United States, for his decision to distance himself, at the previous Hague Summit, from the general commitment of all allies to "invest five percent of annual GDP" in Defense by 2035. The Turkish capital is hosting the NATO Summit on July 7 and 8, with the participation of the heads of state and government of allied and partner countries. The meeting will review the progress made since the 2025 Summit in The Hague and define a roadmap for achieving the Alliance's objectives, with discussions focused on defense investment, strengthening the defense industry through cooperation with the sector, and supporting Ukraine through military assistance and reinforcing its defense capabilities. Pedro Sánchez will travel accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles. Tuesday's events will include an official dinner hosted by the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for the participants of the NATO Summit, at the Beştepe Presidential Complex in Ankara. At the 2025 Summit, held in The Hague, Spain distanced itself from the general commitment of all allies to "invest five percent of annual GDP" in defense by 2035 and insisted that 2.1 percent is sufficient to meet the Alliance's capability objectives. Pedro Sánchez himself had repeatedly warned, well before the start of the meeting, that he would not accept an increase in defense spending beyond the two percent agreed at the 2014 Wales Summit, and had even clearly communicated this to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a letter days before the Summit. Since then, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs against Spain and at one point even proposed Spain's expulsion from NATO, despite the fact that the Alliance Treaty does not contain any formal procedure for expelling a member state. NATO data In any case, sources at Moncloa Palace have indicated that Spain arrives in Ankara "very calm, with its head held high and having done its homework" because, they recalled, just a few weeks ago, at the end of June, the Alliance's Defense Policy and Planning Committee concluded that Spain has achieved its capability objectives set for 2025 and has done so with a higher degree of compliance than the European average and that of major powers such as Canada. According to the aforementioned sources, speaking at an informal meeting before the Summit, Spain is, according to NATO's own data, the seventh-best performing country among the 32 members of the Alliance and the third-largest ally in terms of personnel deployed on peacekeeping missions and security operations outside its territory, with nearly 3,000 soldiers on Alliance missions. The same sources specified, based on the aforementioned Alliance report, that Spain has the most troops deployed on Europe's eastern flank (Slovakia, Romania, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), is the second-largest contributor of naval capabilities to the Alliance, the fourth-largest contributor of air capabilities, and the eighth-largest NATO ally to contribute to support for Ukraine in 2025, with a total of €3.795 billion mobilized since 2022. Furthermore, they continued, Spain has been the sixth member of the Alliance that has most increased its security and defense spending, going from €11.172 billion to €35.419 billion in 2026, an increase of 154 percent in real terms. Thanks to this, they asserted, Spain was the seventh NATO country that invested the most in defense in absolute terms in 2025. Therefore, Moncloa is confident that NATO's own data will allow it to reverse the image of Spain as "a Spain that drags its feet, that doesn't contribute" and avoid criticism from the United States and other allies, including Mark Rutte, who still insists on the need to reach five percent. In this regard, the sources stated, the Spanish government has spoken with the White House on several occasions, including with the US ambassador to Spain, Benjamin León Jr., to convey data that, they emphasized, is already in the possession of White House staff and comes from the Alliance itself. In this regard, the same sources preferred not to comment on the latest statements by Mark Rutte, who on Monday asserted from Ankara that the five percent was a “historic commitment” to achieve “a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO” and that, thanks to it, “transformative progress” has been made, allowing “in the last year, European allies and Canada” to have already invested four percent of their GDP in defense and security and to be “on track to catch up with the United States.” “The technical teams confirmed a month ago that Spain is on the right track to meet all capability objectives. The technical teams and the allies,” the Moncloa sources insisted. On the other hand, the aforementioned sources assured that Moncloa feels “very comfortable” with the draft declaration of the Ankara Summit, both because of how it was negotiated and because of its content, since, instead of falling into a “divisive and misguided” debate about the popular five, what it has done is focus on other important elements on which there is consensus among the allies: capability objectives, defense of Ukraine, industrial strengthening, trade integration and a 360 vision “that NATO itself approved for itself not so long ago” in order not to neglect the southern flank or incur contradictions or double standards when judging, assessing or intervening in conflicts in third countries outside the Mediterranean or the European space. Albares For his part, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated on Monday that Spain has already reached two percent of its GDP in defense spending and “has delivered all the capabilities requested by the Alliance,” something that, he asserted, “not all allies can say.” During an interview on TVE's "La hora de La 1" program, Albares asserted that "there are four allies who have not reached the two percent threshold, and there are three allies who have not delivered all the capabilities that NATO has requested for our common defense." Alliance sources specified that these three allies are Hungary, Albania, and Slovenia. "I wish, I insist, that all the allies could say what Spain can say today, now," he emphasized. Last Wednesday, July 1st, the United States Ambassador to NATO, Matt Whitaker, admitted that President Donald Trump remains "disappointed with Spain" for its refusal to increase defense spending to five percent of GDP and to authorize the use of the Morón and Rota bases against Iran. However, he stated that he does not expect a bilateral conflict at the Ankara Summit ("I think those days are behind us, thankfully") and acknowledged, echoing Spain's position, that capabilities are ultimately more important than mere military spending.

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Albares asserts that Spain “already meets the 2% target and has delivered all capabilities,” something “not all allies can say”