MADRID: Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense needs that’s due to be announced next week, calling it “unreasonable.”
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in a letter sent on Thursday to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” at next week’s NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands.
Any agreement to adopt a new spending guideline must be made with the consensus of all 32 NATO member states. So Sánchez’s decision risks derailing next week’s summit, which US President Donald Trump is due to attend, and creating a last-minute shakeup that could have lingering repercussions.
Most US allies in NATO are on track to endorse Trump’s demand that they invest 5 percent of GDP on their defense and military needs. In early June, Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target.
A NATO official on Thursday said that discussions between allies were ongoing about a new defense spending plan.
“For Spain, committing to a 5 percent target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain away from optimal spending and it would hinder the EU’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defense ecosystem,” Sánchez wrote in the letter seen by The Associated Press.
Spain was the lowest spender in the trans-Atlantic alliance last year, directing less than 2 percent of its GDP on defense expenditure.
Sánchez said in April that the government would raise defense spending by 10.5 billion euros ($12 billion) in 2025 to reach NATO’s previous target of 2 percent of GDP.
On Thursday, Sánchez called for “a more flexible formula” in relation to a new spending target — one that either made it optional or left Spain out of its application.
Sánchez wrote that the country is “fully committed to NATO,” but that meeting a 5 percent target “would be incompatible with our welfare state and our world vision.” He said that doing so would require cutting public services and scaling back other spending, including toward the green transition.
Instead, Spain will need to spend 2.1 percent of GDP to meet the Spanish military’s estimated defense needs, Sánchez said.
At home, corruption scandals that have ensnared Sánchez’s inner circle and family members have put the Spanish leader under increasing pressure to call an early election, even from some allies.
Increased military spending is also unpopular among some of Sanchez’s coalition partners. In April, when Sánchez announced that Spain would reach NATO’s previous 2 percent spending target, the move angered some coalition members further to the left of his Socialist Party.
NATO allies agreed to spend 2 percent of GDP on military expenditure after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. But the alliance’s plans for defending Europe and North America against a Russian attack require investments of at least 3 percent.
The aim now is to raise the bar to 3.5 percent for core defense spending on tanks, warplanes, air defense, missiles and hiring extra troops. A further 1.5 percent would be spent on things like roads, bridges, ports and airfields so armies can deploy more quickly, as well as preparing societies for possible attack.
Several allies have committed to reaching the new spending goal, even though other nations will struggle to find the billions required.
Rutte had been due to table a new proposal on Friday aimed at satisfying Spain and trying to break the deadlock. European allies and Canada want to end the standoff before the leaders meet with Trump on Wednesday.
Poland and the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have already publicly committed to 5 percent, and Rutte has said that most allies were ready to endorse the goal.
But Spain isn’t alone among NATO’s low spenders. Belgium, Canada and Italy will also struggle to hike security spending by billions of dollars.
A big question still to be answered is what time frame countries will be given to reach an agreed-upon new spending goal.
A target date of 2032 was initially floated, but Rutte has said that Russia could be ready to launch an attack on NATO territory by 2030.
Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated 5% defense spending proposal as ‘unreasonable’
https://arab.news/whmna
Spain rejects NATO’s anticipated 5% defense spending proposal as ‘unreasonable’
- Most US allies in NATO are on track to endorse Trump’s demand that they invest 5 percent of GDP on defense and military needs
- But Spanish PM Sánchez’s decision risks derailing next week’s NATO summit, which could have lingering repercussions
Delhi ‘plant cafe’ offers residents respite from toxic smog
- Air Quality Index in the capital regularly hovers above 300, which is considered dangerous
- Residents are increasingly considering air pollution levels before venturing outside
NEW DELHI: As air pollution hovers around dangerous levels across New Delhi, a small cafe is becoming increasingly popular among residents of the Indian capital, offering respite from the constant toxic smog that threatens public health.
At Planterie, described by its owner as plant studio, rows of plants line both the floor and shelves as dozens of pots with spilling foliage hang by the window, resembling a lush greenhouse.
The cafe has gained traction online over the past month, after visitors posted clips of monitors showing comparatively better air quality inside.
On Wednesday, the Air Quality Index, or AQI, inside the cafe stood at about 30, a stark contrast to the levels outdoors, which hit above 300 across the capital.
On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.
“This is one of a kind in Delhi … I’m sure you can feel the difference once you come in … (plants) make such a difference,” Sureika Narain, a walking tour guide and a regular at the cafe, told Arab News.
“I’ve grown up in Delhi. I’ve seen the pollution become worse and worse, but somehow I’m able to cope with it through the yogas, pranayama (breathing technique), whatever we do in life, and we find places like this that we carry on in life … this kind of place in Delhi is very important.”
Delhi has not recorded a single “clean air” day in 2025, with Air Quality Index readings hitting high above the 50 score throughout the year.
Its residents have staged at least four protests since October, demanding more government action to address air pollution.
The pollution levels also get worse as winter descends, when Delhi’s air further thickens into an opaque, toxic smog, triggering headaches, itchy eyes and burning throats among the public.
“During the winter season, pollution goes very high and people become more and more conscious. And people do find it, like if you come in here, immediately you feel a little bit of calmness, because all the plants and the air is very clean inside,” Farial Sabrina, co-owner of Planterie, told Arab News.
Since opening in 2021, she said some of her customers would commute at least 45 minutes just to visit the cafe, which offers a limited menu and can only accommodate about 20 people at a time.
“I feel grateful and sometimes overwhelmed with the response that people have given. People do come up to us and really thank us for existing,” Sabrina said.
“If you’re living in a big city, we want everything best, but air is a basic right.”
To limit exposure to toxic air, Delhi residents are increasingly choosing to stay at home, where air purifiers are at least keeping them safe.
As many start to consider AQI levels before going outside, places like Planterie are becoming a chosen alternative.
“I try to avoid going outside and the high AQI at the moment, so I mostly stay indoors with the air filter on,” Mona, a Planterie customer, told Arab News.
“The motivation to come here was basically to leave the house in the high AQI and, you know, find a place where the air quality is a little better.”
The same was true for Laura Supprin, a German living in the city.
“This is like a nice combination: good coffee, cute interior, some nice coffees or teas, and also lower AQI. So, it was a win-win,” she said.
“If you’re outside for too long, you, like, get a headache and don’t feel really great. So, having a place like this is good.”
