Can This Country Carry the Weight of Europe’s Military Defense?

Can This Country Carry the Weight of Europe’s Military Defense?

The United States has been pushing Europe to take on more of its defensive responsibilities and handle its own security. In response, NATO’s leader, Mark Rutte, urged European countries last week to work together as they build up their militaries and defense industries after years of underfunding. Although NATO countries are committed to spending 2% of their economy on defense, many nations are still dragging behind this goal, including Spain an…

Guns and butter: How to keep Europeans on board with higher defence spending

Cover image: picture alliance / Juan Carlos Rojas | Juan Carlos Rojas As European leaders boost defence spending, strengthen European security cooperation and contemplate a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, they need to bring voters on board. They may worry about citizen objections and public attitudes changing at a slower pace than governmental policies—but Europeans are keeping up. Their opinions are, at the very least, in flux. The public’s ch…

Defence pledges have unprecedented electoral spotlight, but more ambition may be needed to match allies: experts

'We seem to be catching up on the old conversation just as it’s on the cusp of changing,' says defence expert David Perry on the consensus building towards two per cent defence spending.

The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has refused to specify deadlines for increasing military spending to 2% although she has reiterated that it will be reached because Spain “always fulfils its commitments.” The deadline has become a controversial issue after Mark Rutte, secretary general of NATO, stated that Spain would reach this figure in summer. Robles only revealed on Tuesday that it will be “very early” on 2029, which was the limit …

Spain vows to meet 2% defence spending goal well before 2029, no new deadline

LISBON - Spain will increase its defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product well before an original target date of 2029, but it is not setting any specific new deadlines, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Tuesday. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The executive will present before the NATO summit in June a timetable to reach that goal. The deadline will depend to a large extent on the measurement that is used and Spain fights to include as spending in defense the protection of borders or the fight against terrorismBrussels raises changes in the cohesion funds so that they can be allocated to the defense First it was in 2029. Then it was before 2029. And now “long before 2029. The governme…