MADRID: Spain hit back at Donald Trump on Friday after the US President suggested expelling the country from NATO for failing to meet his ramped-up defense spending target.
In June, the 32-nation military alliance agreed to massively boost defense spending to five percent of annual economic output over the next decade under pressure from Trump.
But Spain, which was NATO’s lowest defense spender in relative terms last year, insisted it would not need to hit the headline figure.
“We had one laggard, it was Spain,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
“They have no excuse not to do this, but that’s all right. Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly.”
Government sources said on Friday that “Spain is a committed and full member of NATO. And it meets its capacity targets as much as the United States.”
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has argued that Spain should meet its capacity objectives rather than fixed spending targets, including cybersecurity and the environment in his calculations.
The Spanish opposition pounced on the stir caused by Trump’s remarks to criticize Sanchez late on Thursday.
The main conservative opposition’s leader, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, wrote on X that “Spain is a credible, proud member and committed to NATO. And we will remain so. The problem is Sanchez.”
“He can’t be trusted, but that should not hold the country back. Our nation should not have to pay for his frivolity and irresponsibility,” the Popular Party leader said.
Far-right leader Santiago Abascal, who heads Spain’s third-largest political force Vox, said on X that Sanchez “further destroys national interests and seriously harms our security.”
“Sanchez is the greatest calamity Spain has had in a long time.”
Spain says ‘committed to NATO’ after Trump expulsion threat
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Spain says ‘committed to NATO’ after Trump expulsion threat
Nigeria seeks French help to combat insecurity, says Macron
- African country has witnessed violence and mass kidnappings from schools
LAGOS: Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has sought more help from France to fight widespread violence in the north of the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, weeks after the United States threatened to intervene to protect Nigeria’s Christians.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has witnessed an upsurge in attacks in volatile northern areas in the past month, including mass kidnappings
from schools and a church.
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of possible military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The government says the allegations misrepresent a complex security situation in which armed groups target both faith groups.
FASTFACTS
• US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of possible military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians.
• The government says the allegations misrepresent a complex security situation in which armed groups target both faith groups.
Macron said he had a phone call with Tinubu on Sunday, where he conveyed France’s support to Nigeria as it grapples with several security challenges, “particularly the terrorist threat in the North.”
“At his request, we will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations. We call on all our partners to step up their engagement,” Macron said in a post on X.
Macron did not say what help would be offered by France, which has withdrawn its troops from West and Central Africa and plans to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance.
Nigeria is grappling with a long-running insurgency in the northeast, armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest and deadly clashes between largely Muslim cattle herders and mostly Christian farmers in the central parts of the country, stretching its security forces.
Washington said last month that it was considering actions such as sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism as part of a plan to compel Nigeria to better protect its Christian communities.
The Nigerian government has said it welcomes help to fight insecurity as long as its sovereignty is respected. France has previously supported efforts to curtail the actions of armed groups, the US has shared intelligence and sold arms, including fighter jets, and Britain has trained Nigerian troops.
