The NATO general secretary, Mark Rutte, has rejected the possibility of expanding the concept of defense expenditure, as Pedro Sánchez states, so that investments such as the protection of borders or the fight against terrorism compute when estimating the proportion of GDP that is destined for defense.
“In NATO we have a clear definition of what is and what is not the expense in defense, and we are not going to change that definition,” Routte settled in a press conference after the meeting with the Foreign Ministers of the Atlantic Alliance in which, however, the matter has not been addressed, as he has recognized.
The debate has reopened following the pressure in both NATO and EU to shoot the defense spending. The militaristic organization intends to increase the commitment of expense in defense of the allies, which is currently 2% of GDP, “considerably above 3%.”
Spain, with an expense of 1.28%, is far from reaching that threshold. And for what Pedro Sánchez fights is to expand the concept of military spending and that everything that has to do with defense and security is taken into account when making the calculation, such as, for example, including investments that have to do with the protection of borders, the fight against terrorism, or preparation against climatic emergencies. However, Routte has closed that door.
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, said Tuesday that she plans to reach 2% “much earlier” of 2029, which was the initially initially compromised date and that Sánchez later advanced. Allied sources did not rule out this week that this figure was reached before this summer, which is when the NATO summit will be held in which a new spending threshold will be established, which for the US should be 5%. However, these sources admitted that the deadlines will depend largely on the measurement system that is finally used. And for Routte it is the current one.
Source: www.eldiario.es
