US President Donald Trump announced that he plans to apply economic pressure on Madrid due to Spain's refusal to increase defense spending. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
According to Trump, Spain is the only NATO member state that has spent only 5 percent of its gross domestic product on defense needs. In a conversation with journalists at the White House, expressing his dissatisfaction with Spain, he said that import tariffs might be imposed on countries that have not raised their defense spending to 5 percent.
Trump also emphasized that Madrid's laxity in this regard could negatively affect European security. Earlier, during a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, he noted that Spain lags significantly behind other NATO countries in defense spending.
President Trump indicated that strict measures could be taken against Spain and even raised the idea of expelling them from NATO. According to him, there is no justification for Spain not fulfilling its obligations.
The Spanish government, for its part, stated that although it has not reached the designated level of defense spending, it continues to enhance the combat readiness of its armed forces and fully implements initiatives agreed upon with NATO. They also emphasize their commitment to fulfilling defense obligations.
