Who knows where Pedro Sánchez might be in 2035? In La Moncloa (the Prime Minister’s official residence)? In Europe? In jail, given the way things are going in Spain? But far from stalling, Pedro Sánchez has chosen to publicly confront Trump, the U.S., and NATO by refusing to increase Spanish defense spending beyond 2%. And as for 5% by 2035, that’s out of the question.
This is what Sánchez explained to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a letter—Sánchez is a great practitioner of the epistolary genre—that the Spanish Government was quick to make public.
“It is legitimate for each government to decide whether or not it is willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign Ally, we choose not to do so,” reads Sánchez’s message, “Spain cannot commit at this Summit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP.”
The interpretation by Spanish media of Sánchez’s public snub is unequivocal, summarized in El Mundo newspaper’s headline: “With the NATO battle over military spending, Sánchez seeks an escape route so his partners don’t end the legislature now.”
