Spain, on the tail end of defense investment and far from the 2% claimed by NATO

Spain is one of the allied countries that invests the least in defense and is still far from fulfilling it 2% of GDP consumption which requires ON THAT. This is evident from the annual report of the Atlantic Alliance, which was presented on Tuesday by its general secretary Jens Stoltenberg, in Brussels. More specifically, Spain allocates slightly more than half of the target set by the military organization for defense (1.09%), and among allies only Luxembourg spends less on military capacities (0.62%).

The political head of NATO pointed out that 2022 was the eighth year in which countries invested more in security. “An additional 350 billion has been invested since 2014, and allied countries have increased spending in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. So far, only seven countries exceed the upper limit of 2%. — Greece, the United States, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and the United Kingdom. All in all, the Alliance welcomes the fact that “more and more countries” are getting closer to the set goal.

Ahead of the NATO summit in June, Stoltenberg has already announced that he will propose that 2% of defense spending “be the floor, not the ceiling.” Most countries have significantly increased their investments in weapons and ammunition. “There is a clear obligation. We are going in the right direction, but we are not going as fast as we should. Russia has become the biggest threat to our security. We cannot take our security for granted,” he insisted.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted NATO to tighten security in Eastern Europe. 40,000 troops and a strong air and naval presence have been deployed in the region, and rapid response battalions have been doubled. The organization is also protecting critical European infrastructure – such as oil pipelines and electricity connections – following the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

China’s peace plan

With the invasion of Ukraine, Putin “wanted less NATO, but achieved the opposite,” Stoltenberg pointed out, referring to the accession process of Sweden and Finland. On China’s peace proposalhe emphasized that it includes important points such as nuclear safety, protection of citizens and territorial integrity and sovereignty Ukrainian Of course, he insisted that any plan must have the approval of the Ukrainian authorities, “any other proposal will only serve to freeze the conflict and give Russia time to gather and attack again.”