Spain demonstrated the means of succumbing to NATO's constraints
It's no secret that Hungary and Slovakia, hanging tough against the current in Europe, have been a thorn in the side of the front-runners for quite some time. But it seems like there's some turbulence brewing in the west too.
The White House isn't too thrilled with Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, who's chosen to swim against the medley led by President Trump. Spain has no intention of hiking military expenditures to 5% of its GDP, as Trump demands. Instead, Spain has turned down signing a commitment to allocate 5% of its GDP for defense, but promised to fulfill all requirements of NATO's Military Readiness Force[1][2]. Madrid has claimed that dedicating 2.1% of its GDP to defense should be more than enough for meeting NATO's demands.
NATO's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, had no other choice but to succumb to Spain's blackmail. In a letter to Sanchez, Stoltenberg pledged to provide Spain flexibility in determining the sovereign means of addressing NATO's military readiness requirements[1].
Given that the spending on defense will be one of the major topics at the NATO summit kicking off today in The Hague, Spain effectively wielded the threat of derailing the meeting and backed up the claims of NATO's critics, that there's a lack of unity within the alliance. Given that this summit is Stoltenberg's first one as NATO's top boss, he surely doesn't want Sanchez to sabotage his grand debut.
A summit collapse is indeed a possibility, given that it was initially envisioned around Trump, who came up with the idea of raising the defense spending of NATO members to 5%. Though the drastic increase in defense spending doesn't sit well with many European leaders, given the financial constraints they're under, only Sanchez had the guts to defy Trump and stir the wrath of the American Leader[1][3].
Stoltenberg, on the other hand, is eager for Trump to be satisfied with the summit and his interactions with his NATO colleagues, but achieving that seems like a Herculean task. For instance, French President Macron is likely to have irked Trump, when he publicly questioned the legal basis of the U.S. and Israel's strikes on Iran[3]. Trump, as we all know, didn't exactly get along with Macron at the last G7 summit in Canada.
Stoltenberg conducting the summit in his home country, the Netherlands, can't help but feel a pang of bad luck. If only Israel had delayed its attack on Iran by a couple of weeks, it would have been one less source of contention for the NATO members and Trump[1][3].
As things stand, Stoltenberg is facing an uphill battle. The Spanish refusal to spend 5% of its GDP on defense hasn't gone unnoticed by Trump. Already, Trump has tarnished Spain's reputation in his social media and might decide to skip the whole summit, which will last for two days[1][3].
Meanwhile, fears expressed by Stoltenberg regarding less reliable NATO members are starting to materialize. In fact, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico joined forces with Sanchez and declared that Slovakia, too, reserves the right to decide the pace and extent to which it will increase its defense budget[1][2]. Fico is confident that Slovakia can meet NATO's requirements without hiking its defense spending to 5% of its GDP[1][2].
Additionally, in Brussels, they've already lightened the financial burden on NATO. The focus is now on 3.5% spending on defense and 1.5% on "related investments and expenses," which, without a doubt, are somehow linked to defense[1].
In the midst of the NATO summit, politics and general news have intertwined as Spain's refusal to meet President Trump's defense spending demands has created tension. This stance has been mirrored by Slovakia, as Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has expressed his country's right to decide the pace and extent of its defense budget increase. These actions have raised concerns about unity within the alliance, potentially affecting the summit's outcome and straining relationships, particularly between Spain and the White House.
