Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has responded to US President Donald Trump's demand for increased defense spending and calls to expel his country from NATO, stressing that he has no intention of changing his approach.
Points of attention
- Sanchez confirms that Spain will not adjust its defense spending for the time being, highlighting the satisfaction with the agreement reached during the last NATO summit.
- The disagreement escalated after Trump labeled Spain as a 'laggard' in defense spending and suggested its expulsion from NATO, to which Sanchez responded assertively.
Sanchez not intimidated by Trump's statements
According to the country's leader, he made it as clear as possible to the US president that he was committed not only to defense, but also to protecting the well-being of his people.
I fulfilled the agreement...and this year we reached 2% (of GDP on defense — ed.). We believe that with this budget we are already providing a more than adequate response to the challenges we face within the North Atlantic Alliance.
Pedro Sanchez
Prime Minister of Spain
Against this background, the politician officially confirmed that no one will change Spain's defense spending for the time being.
According to him, during the last NATO summit, an agreement was reached with which Spain is completely satisfied.
"I emphasize: for us, compliance with the Alliance's requirements is as important as meeting the needs of our rule of law," Sanchez added.
As mentioned earlier, Donald Trump recently called Spain a "laggard" country in terms of defense spending and said it should be "expelled" from NATO.
