MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday his government will meet NATO’s target of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence spending this year, long before its previous self-imposed deadline of 2029.
He announced a plan to increase spending by 10.47 billion euros ($12.04 billion), focusing on telecommunications, cybersecurity and buying military equipment.
“This plan will help us meet (the target) in record time,” Sanchez said. “Spain will contribute to defending Europe.”
U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing NATO allies to lift military spending as high as 5% of GDP. The European Commission has proposed allowing member states to raise defence spending by 1.5% of GDP a year for four years without punishing governments for increasing their budget deficits.
Spain spent just 1.3% of gross domestic product on defence in 2024, the lowest among NATO members.
Sanchez’s plan will need to be approved by congress, where his Socialist-led government does not have a majority at present.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Charlie Devereux, editing by Aislinn Laing and Andrei Khalip)
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