Spain’s Sánchez calls for cyber and climate to count as defence spending – CSN News

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose country is at the bottom of Nato’s military budget rankings, has called for a broader definition of defence spending to include cyber security, anti-terrorism and efforts to combat climate change.

In his most significant remarks on defence since US President Donald Trump returned to power, Sánchez reiterated that Madrid would reach Nato’s 2 per cent of GDP spending target at some point before 2029, but argued threats other than a Russian invasion had to be considered.

“For any eastern European or Nordic or Baltic country, the threat demands a response in which deterrence relies primarily on defence investment,” Sánchez said on Thursday.

“But this is not true in Spain.” He said that the threat was not Russia’s troops crossing the Pyrenees. “We are talking about a hybrid Russian threat when we discuss Russia.” Cyber attacks are a threat. We must not only talk about defense, but also fundamentally about security.”

Spain will spend less on defence than any other Nato country as a proportion of its GDP in 2024, with an estimated 1,28 percent.

Trump, who has called for Europe to contribute more towards its security and proposed a 5 per cent spending target as a new Nato goal, has brought Italy into the spotlight.

Sánchez has avoided any big spending pledges because he faces resistance from his hard-left coalition partner and other lawmakers whose votes he needs to reach a parliamentary majority. Sanchez is also limited by the pacifist streak that has been ingrained in Spanish society since its military dictatorship of the 20th century.

Sánchez is struggling to garner enough votes to pass a 2025 budget. At the same, the value of 2 percent in euro is increasing due to the rapid economic growth that Spain experienced last year, which was faster than other advanced economies.

After a day spent talking to the leaders of the country’s political parties, Sánchez called for a “360 degree” vision of security.

He said other policymakers must be aware of the dangers that Spain and southern Europe face, including terrorism and disasters caused by global warming. He said that they were related to civil defense and the real danger of climate emergency in the Mediterranean.

Spain is determined to counter the move of other countries who have already reached the 2% target.

One diplomat said: “If we agree more defence funding is urgently needed to stave off a ‘clear and present danger’, then everything else is secondary.”

It is a clear case of opportunism when member states ask for additional funding and grant money while arguing for the expenditure to be on anything but defence.

One said that they did not expect the Mediterranean countries to make a significant contribution to the increase in spending on conventional land force.

“The eastern and northern member states may end up doing the most.” Others do not see the Russian menace in the same way. They are geographically very far away.”

The EU has agreed that certain defense-related costs will be exempted from the fiscal rules that limit budget deficits and debt.

Spain and Italy’s push for a more inclusive definition of military spending failed to get traction at a finance ministers meeting this week. Rome wanted to include the “competitiveness”, as well, in this carve-out.

After meeting Sánchez, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the conservative leader of the opposition People’s party, said the premier “doesn’t have a plan” and called for any defence spending boost to be put to a vote in parliament.

Sánchez said “peace in Ukraine and prosperity in Europe are two sides of the same coin”. He refused to specify when Spain will reach the 2 percent target. He also did not acknowledge the fact that the Nato summit in June is expected to increase the goal to 3% or 3.5 percent.

Spain was on course to spend €19.7bn on defence in 2024, according to Nato.

But Sánchez said Spaniards would have to wait for the final figures before they would “know the effort that the increase in defence spending is going to imply for citizens”. In response to concerns from the hard left, he said “we will never cut a cent of social” spending.