Previously, the country was only able to achieve the NATO objective by 2029, but in recent months, Washington and Brussels have been pressure on Madrid to speed up this calendar. During a meeting with the Spanish Minister of the Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, last week, the secretary in the United States of the Treasury Scott Bessent insisted that Spain had to stimulate defense spending.
About a third of new funds should be used to improve the conditions of members of the Spanish armed forces, which will receive significant increases. Another 3.26 billion euros will be allocated to telecommunications and cybersecurity expenses, which, according to Sánchez, would strengthen the country’s “digital shield” and 1.9 billion euros will be intended for new defense and deterrence equipment.
Pacifist deterrence
The partners of the Prime Minister’s left coalition and its traditional allies within the Spanish Parliament are opposed to what they call the “militarization” of the country, especially if this is at the expense of the vast social protection programs in Spain.
Sánchez insisted that “not a penny” of the higher defense budget would be drawn from existing social regimes or collected with new taxes. Instead, he said money would come from public savings generated by the efficient Spanish economy, unused national budget funds and unexploited pandemic recovery species.
Sánchez has also struggled to emphasize that Spain remains a “pacifist” country and that investments are intended to “dissuade those who might think about attacking Europe”.
He also pointed out that many measures, such as the 1.75 billion euros allocated to strengthen the capacities of the Spanish armed forces in emergency situations, will help troops respond to domestic crises such as natural disasters linked to climate change.
Politices
