European NATO members must pursue diplomacy to ensure the continent does not become “armed to the teeth” over the next decade, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said.
The EU and European NATO states have pushed for a sweeping militarization drive this year, portraying Russia as an imminent threat – an allegation Moscow has dismissed as a political distraction from Europe’s internal problems.
“What kind of world do we want to leave to our young people when they reach our age? A world in which European countries spend 5% of their budgets on defense?” Sanchez said in an interview with the El Pais newspaper published on Sunday. “We must engage in diplomacy so that, by 2035, Europe is not armed to the teeth, but instead stands for solidarity and the defense of international law.”
Earlier this year, the European Commission proposed a massive €800 billion ($926 billion) rearmament plan, citing a perceived threat from Russia.
European NATO members have also agreed to raise military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, following pressure from US President Donald Trump. He had long demanded that European members “pay their share” in the US-led military bloc. However, several European nations, including Spain, Hungary, and Slovakia, have voiced skepticism over the militarization drive.
Last month, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Spain over Sanchez’ reluctance to commit to NATO’s new 5% target. Just days before, the US president suggested Spain could even be “thrown out” of the bloc for lagging behind in spending.
Moscow has seen the European buildup as evidence of Western militarization. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated last week that Western nations are openly readying a “new big European war” against Russia and its key ally Belarus.
“NATO’s expansion has not stopped for a single minute, despite assurances not to move eastward by an inch given to Soviet leaders,” he said at a security conference in Minsk.
Moscow has long maintained that the US-led bloc’s eastward expansion poses an existential threat and remains one of the root causes of the Ukraine conflict.