Pedro Sánchez: "Spain will meet the capability goals and remain a key player in European security"

World Forum Convention Center, The Hague (Netherlands)

Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo y Pool OTAN

President Pedro Sánchez has taken part in the NATO Summit held in The Hague (Netherlands), where he highlighted the constructive spirit in which this key meeting has been prepared for all the allies. At the plenary of the North Atlantic Council, meeting at the level of heads of state and government, Pedro Sánchez reaffirmed Spain's determination to contribute to a stronger alliance and a more solid transatlantic link, emphasising the need to strengthen the European defence industrial base to achieve greater autonomy and collective resilience. He also reiterated Spain's commitment to Ukraine, its solidarity with the Eastern flank of the alliance, and the need to pay resolute attention to the Southern flank.

The president stressed that Spain is one of the five allies with the largest operational deployment in NATO missions. He also affirmed that our country will reach 2% of GDP in defence spending this year, having increased this item by 70% in the last five years.

"Spain will fulfil its capabilities and will continue to be a key part of the European security architecture, both on the southern flank and on the eastern flank, where our country currently has almost 3,000 troops deployed, supported by vehicles and cutting-edge technology," said the president after the summit. He also gave a positive assessment of the results obtained, highlighting the value of the agreements reached, which preserve the unity and legitimacy of the organisation: "In the case of Spain, we have done so from a position that is firmly coherent with our values and the defence of what we consider most appropriate, respecting the will of others, and being respected".

Technical capabilities

The President of the Government assured that the times "of great uncertainty and geopolitical complexity" we are living through require that the Atlantic Alliance be strengthened to guarantee the deterrence and defence of all its members, and that three decisive steps have been taken at this Wednesday's summit.

Pool OTAN

The first is an agreement on the technical and human capabilities the allies must develop to strengthen collective defence; in this regard, Pedro Sánchez stressed that "Spain is firmly committed to these capability goals and will meet them in a timely manner". To this end, he added, our country will deploy the Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defence presented last April, and will invest around 2% of its GDP on a sustained basis. For the President of the Government, this percentage is "a sufficient, realistic volume of investment, and importantly, is compatible with our welfare state".

The second step, the president explained, is industrial cooperation, whereby Europeans and North Americans will develop joint production chains to equip their armed forces while generating employment and wealth in the alliance territories as a whole. Pedro Sánchez highlighted the role of the European SAFE and EDIP programmes in this regard, but also encouraged allies to go further "because, no matter how many resources we contribute, if we do not spend well, together, and more efficiently, we will not achieve the capabilities goal we have set ourselves". In this regard, he suggested that going forwards there should be "less talk of percentages of GDP and more talk of co-production, joint purchasing and interoperability".

Last, the president explained that the allies have given new impetus to their support for Ukraine, pledging to continue supporting the Ukrainian people so that they can defend themselves until a just and lasting peace is achieved.

In his final assessment, Pedro Sánchez expressed the Government of Spain's satisfaction with the results of a summit that has sent "a very important message to our societies and to the world: NATO is united and emerges from this summit stronger" in the face of the challenges. "We have reached an agreement which is faithful to the spirit of multilateralism and which satisfies us all," he said.

Non official translation