MADRID: The United States has praised Spain’s contribution to NATO, the Spanish defense minister said Monday, after President Donald Trump suggested expelling the country from the alliance for not meeting his military spending target.
Last week, the United States announced the withdrawal of some troops from the alliance’s sensitive eastern European flank, on the front line against Russia during the invasion of Ukraine.
But the Pentagon simultaneously said Spain’s contingent was playing “a fundamental and essential role for the defense of Europe and policies of deterrence,” Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said.
The Pentagon “congratulated Spain” for “contributing to the reinforcement of the Atlantic Alliance” and its more than 700 troops in Latvia, she added at a security forum in Madrid.
“Faced with those who want to say Spain is not a committed ally, Spain is a committed ally... and the Department of War recognized that last week,” added Robles, referring to the US defense ministry by its new name.
The revelation contrasts with recent remarks by Trump, who threatened to expel and impose tariff “punishment” on Spain, which was NATO’s lowest defense spender in relative terms last year.
In June, the 32-nation alliance agreed to massively boost defense spending to five percent of annual economic output over the next decade under pressure from Trump, who has raised doubts about the US commitment to European security.
But Spain insisted it would not need to hit the headline figure, saying it should meet its capacity objectives rather than fixed spending targets.
US hailed Spain in NATO after Trump threats: Spanish minister
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US hailed Spain in NATO after Trump threats: Spanish minister
- Spain has sent over 700 troops to Latvia as part of NATO’s efforts in Eastern Europe
- Pentagon “congratulated Spain” for “contributing to the reinforcement of the Atlantic Alliance”
Climate activist group files second lawsuit against Sweden
- Sweden’s Supreme Court in February 2025 ruled that the complaint filed against the state was inadmissible
- “We still have a chance to get out of the planetary crises and build a safe and fair world,” Edling said
STOCKHOLM: A group of climate activists said Friday they were filing another lawsuit against the Swedish state for alleged climate inaction, after the Supreme Court threw out their case last year.
The group behind the lawsuit, Aurora, first tried to sue the Swedish state in late 2022.
Sweden’s Supreme Court in February 2025 ruled that the complaint filed against the state — brought by an individual, with 300 other people joining it as a class action lawsuit — was inadmissible.
The court at the time noted the “very high requirements for individuals to have the right to bring such a claim” against a state.
“We still have a chance to get out of the planetary crises and build a safe and fair world. But this requires that rich countries that emit as much as Sweden stop breaking the law,” Aurora spokesperson Ida Edling said in a statement Friday.
The group, which said the lawsuit had been filed with the Stockholm District Court Friday, said it believes the Swedish state is obligated “to reduce Sweden’s emissions as much and as quickly as necessary in order for the country to be in line with its fair share.”
“This means that emissions from several sectors must reach zero before 2030,” the group said, while noting this was 15 years before Sweden’s currently set targets.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency as well as the OECD warned last year that Sweden was at risk of not reaching its own goal of net zero emissions by 2045.
While the first lawsuit was unsuccessful, the group noted that international courts had made several landmark decisions since the first suit was filed, spotlighting two in particular.
In an April 2024 decision, Europe’s top rights court, the European Court of Human Rights, ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change, the first country ever to be condemned by an international tribunal for not taking sufficient action to curb global warming.
In 2025, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that countries violating their climate obligations were committing an “unlawful” act.
