<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Defense Minister Margarita Robles stated this Wednesday in Brussels that, for the moment, Spain's commitment is to reach two percent of defense spending, but "what happens in 2030 or 2035, absolutely no one can know." She also asserted that none of her NATO counterparts have made "any mention" of US President Donald Trump's "taken out of context" statements about Spain's possible expulsion from the Alliance for failing to raise defense spending to five percent of GDP.</strong></h4> “The American delegation is talking about 2030 and 2035; there's still a long way to go before then,” Robles declared upon leaving the North Atlantic Council meeting of defense ministers, chaired by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in Brussels. “I'm talking about 2025, and in 2025, there was a commitment made in Wales in 2014, which was to reach 2%,” and Spain is making “an enormous effort” to achieve it this year, she continued. “I understand politics with a sense of the moment, of what citizens are asking of us at any given moment. I can say that in 2025, Spain is fulfilling its obligation, which it assumed in 2014. I think absolutely no one can know what will happen in 2030 or 2035,” she warned. “We all have a reality, which is the current reality, what is happening in Ukraine, continuing to invest in defense, and that is what we are doing. In ten years, well, we will see,” she admitted. Regarding Trump's statements—which in his opinion were taken “out of context” and are the result of a series of “intentional” questions from the press “in which the question itself implies an answer”—Robles asserted that “everyone knows, starting with the United States and, of course, the members of the Atlantic Alliance, that Spain is a serious, reliable, responsible, and committed partner,” she declared. “What is truly important, and what everyone knows, is that Spain maintains a firm commitment to the Atlantic Alliance,” Robles continued. “We are a responsible and serious ally. I have stated this to the 32 countries, including the United States,” she asserted. “The most important thing is the facts, and the facts show that our soldiers are participating in numerous NATO missions, that these missions will continue, and that we are also significantly increasing our defense budget,” the minister added. In any case, Robles asserted that NATO allies have not attached any importance to Trump's statements. “No one has made any mention of these statements, which, moreover, come in the context of specific and concrete questions directed at President Trump.” “Here, precisely, better than anywhere else, within the NATO, Spain's commitment is known,” she insisted. In any case, Robles warned that, at this time, NATO's priority is to increase aid to Ukraine and, in this regard, did not rule out the possibility of Spain participating in the Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), an Alliance plan to assist Ukraine through the acquisition of weapons from the United States. "Spain will always be part of the solution to the problems, and if it's necessary to join this initiative to help Ukraine, the priority is Ukraine," she stated. Twenty countries have already joined PURL to purchase US-made weapons, missiles, and air defenses for Ukraine, including Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Canada, with a combined value of $2 billion. Slovenia and Portugal have expressed their support, and Belgium, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Iceland, and Luxembourg are negotiating with the United States for possible purchases. Spain, France, and Italy have not yet done so. <h5><strong>Rutte and Hegseth</strong></h5> Secretary-General Mark Rutte recalled this Wednesday in Brussels that at the last NATO Summit, held last June in The Hague, "there was complete unanimity" among the allies to increase defense spending to 5 percent over a ten-year period and that Spain "fully agreed" with the capability targets set at the Summit. Spain has assured that it will be able to meet these targets with 2 percent or, in the most extreme cases, 3.5 percent. However, the former Dutch Prime Minister declined to comment on Trump's remarks. For his part, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, along with Rutte himself, warned at the beginning of the meeting that "we must spend more to achieve peace." "If there's one thing we've learned under the Trump presidency, it's the active application of peace through strength. Peace is achieved when you are strong, not when you use forceful words." "You get it when you have strong, real capabilities that adversaries respect," he declared. Therefore, Hegseth called on the other allies to join PURL in providing more weapons to Ukraine in order to "bring this conflict to a peaceful conclusion." The most prominent topic of the Brussels meeting was the drone crisis. "The problem is that some people say, not within NATO, but sometimes in public debate, that if a Russian aircraft, whether intentionally or not, enters NATO airspace, it must be shot down anyway," explained Mark Rutte. "I don't agree; I think that (before shooting it down) we must be absolutely convinced that it poses a threat," he warned. In any case, Rutte affirmed that "if the Russians intentionally attempt any action against NATO, we have the authority to defend every inch of our airspace." "NATO is much stronger than Russia. We are infinitely more capable," he added. <h5><strong>Contact Group for Ukraine</strong></h5> The meeting was attended by the new Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, who spoke for the first time in this ministerial format, and by the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Admiral Pierre Vandier. This meeting of NATO defense ministers, held at the Alliance Headquarters in Brussels and the first at this level since the Hague Summit last June, included a "32-party" meeting of the North Atlantic Council and an informal luncheon in the NATO-Ukraine Council format, with the presence of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union/Vice-President of the Commission, Kaja Kallas, and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal. On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, Robles spoke at a new meeting of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, where she emphasized that "the Spanish contribution is practical, useful, and timely, and focuses on capabilities requested by Ukraine based on its needs. All of this without overlooking the importance of Spain's commitment to training Ukrainian soldiers, through EUMAM, with more than 10% of the troops trained directly by our country, and in the humanitarian dimension, with programs to host and assist Ukrainian families and care for the wounded on national territory, which complement military support." Throughout the day, the minister, who was accompanied by the Secretary General for Defense Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez, Robles also held a bilateral meeting with her Romanian counterpart, Liviu-Ionuț Moșteanu, to discuss possible future lines of cooperation between the two countries.
