A few hours after the beginning of the NATO summit, which will start tomorrow at the Hague, in the Netherlands, the 32 member countries of the Atlantic alliance have reached an agreement on the final declaration which provides for the growth of economic effort, as required by the US President Donald Trump.
By 2035, military expenditure will be brought to 5 percent of GDP. The ten -year goal is divided as follows: there will be an increase in military expenses in the strict sense of 3.5 percent and another 1.5 for investments in so -called “dual use” technology, both civil and military such as cybersicacy.
The proposal, strongly desired by the tenant of the house, aims to drastically strengthen the defensive abilities of the Atlantic alliance, to face the threats represented by Russia and China. But the Israel-Iran war, with the American involvement, could change the text of the cessation. The NATO position on Ukraine remains undisputed. Kiev’s “irreversible path” towards NATO was agreed last year at the Washington summit and “will also be valid on Thursday”, said Rutte, specifying that Ukraine must have what it is needed to “defend itself from Russia” today and exercise “deterrence” in the future. “From Canada and Europe, 35 billion military aid for 2025 have already been promised,” added the number one of the alliance.
“No derogation for Spain”, but Prime Minister Sanchez speaks of flexibility
The main node was represented by the opposition of Spain, which considers the 5 percent objective of the GDP “disproportionate and useless and useless and incompatible with the maintenance of welfare. Italy and Belgium also raised doubts about the new commitments but in the end they sold. To overcome the impasse, the countries of the alliance have found a linguistic solution that expresses the general objective of 5 percent but interprets it flexible.
In the final declaration of the born summit, the formulation of “all the” to “allies” allies has been modified: this change reflects the Spanish position according to which not all members are obliged to achieve the same percentage of expenditure. “Madrid has agreed with the targets of capacity. He believes he can achieve the objectives with 2 percent, we reputure will serve 3.5 percent. It will be seen within the framework of the 2029 review,” said secretary general Mark Rutte on the eve of the born summit, reassuring the high member countries on the absence of exemption granted to Spain. The Secretary General specified that NATO does not provide for a “exemption clause” from the commitments commonly decided in the face of Madrid’s request to be dispensed by increasing military expenses and for defense for reasons of public finance and also for reasons of internal policy linked to government stability.
The Spanish leader is different. Pedro Sanchez published on X the letter that the NATO secretary general sent him, confirming the flexibility to Spain to determine his sovereign path to achieve the objectives of ability “. Sanchez suggests it is a derogation. “I understand that Spain is convinced that he can reach the targets with a trajectory of less than 5 percent,” reads again.
Rutte still seems satisfied with the draft of understanding. “The goal of investing 5 percent of GDP in defense agreed by NATO members, except for the medium -term compromise achieved with Spain, is a quantum leap that makes the alliance stronger and more lethal”, said the secretary general of NATO, adding that the European defense industry must “respond quickly” to the “clear signals” on the question that the NATO States send.
How much does NATO’s goal costs to 5 percent for Italy
The Spanish government is opposed to the achievement of the 5 percent goal in order not to be able to burden on the walfare or on the increase in taxes: according to Madrid’s calculations, the shopping target costs the citizen annually to the citizen a year per year, in fact. Spain claims that each country has different economic realities and can provide similar skills with different expenses as a percentage of GDP.
And as far as Italy is concerned? At the moment our country spends around 31.295 billion euros (about 1.5% of GDP), recording a growth of over 2 billion euros (12.4 percent) compared to 2024 and 60 percent compared to ten years ago. Therefore, according to the calculations of the independent Observatory Mil € x on Italian military expenditure, to achieve in ten years the objective requested by NATO, Italy should increase the military spending of over 400 billion euros compared to the projection of costs with the current level around 2 percent. That is, 40 billion euros per year of more differential. A very high expense for a country that arranges on health and public education.
