Overview

• Spain’s prime minister sent a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte rejecting the alliance’s proposal to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 and halting the silent approval process
• NATO chief Mark Rutte has proposed splitting the 5% target into a 3.5% military budget and a 1.5% security investment bucket while extending the deadline to 2035
• President Trump publicly criticized Spain for underfunding its defense and warned that countries failing to meet the 5% threshold could jeopardize their reliance on US protection
• Spain increased its military budget from 1.4% of GDP in 2024 to a planned 2% in 2025 but argues higher levels would undermine its constitutional welfare guarantees
• Sánchez leveraged the spending debate to rally his coalition partners and divert attention from corruption scandals threatening his government’s stability