Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated defence spending increase as ’unreasonable’

Spain resists NATO's 5% GDP defense spending demand, aiming to reach 2% target by 2025.

Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5% of GDP on defence needs that’s due to be announced next week, calling it “unreasonable.”

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In a letter sent Thursday (June 19, 2025) to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” at next week’s NATO summit in The Hague.

Most U.S. allies at NATO are on track to endorse U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of their gross domestic product on their defence and military needs. In early June, Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target.

Spain was the lowest spender in the 32-nation military alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defence expenditure.

In April, Mr. Sánchez said the government would raise defence spending by 10.5 billion euros ($12 billion) in 2025 to reach NATO’s previous target of 2% of GDP.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, NATO’s 32 allies agreed to spend at least 2% of their GDP on their military budgets. But NATO plans for defending Europe and North America against a Russian attack require investment of at least 3%.