Latest news with #PedroSánchez
The Herald
4 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald
Global Citizen summit targets finance reform, renewable energy scale-up
Global Citizen, the world's leading advocacy organisation dedicated to ending extreme poverty, has announced that its flagship action summit, Global Citizen NOW, will take place at CaixaForum Sevilla in Spain on June 29. The event will convene ahead of the UN's Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4). Hosted in partnership with the Spanish government, the summit will gather leaders across sectors to drive ambitious action on poverty and the climate crisis. The summit will serve as a strategic catalyst and global platform to shape the action coming out of FfD4 and advance an ambitious agenda for financing reform and international co-operation. It will feature dynamic high-level panels and highlight the urgent need for investments in renewable energy across Africa and transformative investments in development finance. Pedro Sánchez, President of Spain, said the UN's FfD4 is a critical opportunity that could not be more timely. 'World leaders need to work together within the multilateral framework to reshape the global financial architecture so it works for everyone, especially the world's most vulnerable. 'Spain is proud to co-host Global Citizen NOW: Sevilla to drive bold, co-ordinated action to tackle the world's biggest challenges and mobilise ambitious initiatives for sustainable development,' said Sánchez. The summit will serve as a key moment in Global Citizen's year-long s caling up renewables in Africa campaign, in partnership with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Cyril Ramaphosa, with policy support from the International Energy Agency. The campaign aims to secure commitments from governments, the private sector and multilateral banks towards tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, support the creation of 500,000 new energy jobs, and address the unmet energy needs of 600-million people who don't have electricity on the continent. It will culminate in a pledging conference in November alongside the G20 summit. 'Our global financial system was not designed to meet today's challenges. It must evolve to reflect the realities of a world in crisis,' said Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados. Mottley said from unsustainable debt burdens to the escalating climate emergency, too many nations are being asked to do more with less. 'The Global Citizen NOW: Sevilla summit is a vital platform to champion equitable financing, accelerate renewable energy transitions across Africa and SIDS, and advance the systemic reforms our world urgently needs. Now is the time for co-operation and decisive action for people and planet,' she said. Co-Founder and CEO of Global Citizen Hugh Evans said Global Citizen NOW: Sevilla will showcase international co-operation at a time when the world so urgently needs it. 'The future of financing global development demands radical efficiency, as we need to do more with less to deliver the impact that is needed to end extreme poverty around the world,' Evans said. The summit will be hosted by Nomzamo Mbatha, actress, humanitarian and Global Citizen ambassador. Previous editions of Global Citizen NOW have been held in New York, Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro. Later this year, the summit series is expected to expand its global footprint and also head to Detroit, Michigan, Belém, Brazil and Johannesburg. TimesLIVE
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Spain rejects NATO's anticipated 5 percent defense spending proposal as ‘unreasonable'
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.
BBC News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Spain: Embattled Sánchez resists clamour for resignation
Seven years after taking office by ousting corruption-ridden conservatives from government, Pedro Sánchez is fighting for his political life amid investigations into alleged graft in his Socialist party (PSOE).On June 12, an ashen-faced prime minister apologised to Spaniards after audio gathered by civil guard investigators was made public and appeared to show the PSOE secretary, Santos Cerdán, discussing commissions paid by companies in exchange for public contracts.Sánchez has not himself been directly implicated, but the Socialist leader who came to power promising to clean up politics is now facing calls to resign from an invigorated who was party number three, has resigned from the PSOE and stepped down as a member of parliament. He is due to appear before the Supreme Court on 25 June. He maintains he has never committed a crime nor been implicit in one. The investigation into commissions is part of an ongoing probe which has already implicated José Luis Ábalos, a former PSOE secretary and transport minister. A third person implicated is Koldo García, an advisor to Ábalos. Both men featured with Cerdán in the recently exposed audio. All three say they have done nothing investigation into Ábalos, which began last year, was damaging for the government but his exit from the cabinet and the PSOE secretary post in 2021 put distance between him and Sánchez. However, the implication of Cerdán is more problematic.Sánchez had repeatedly defended him in the face of claims in the right-wing media over recent months that he was under investigation, and the prime minister even accused the opposition of "slandering honest people" when asked about Cerdán's activities last party secretary, from the northern region of Navarre, was a trusted confidant of the prime minister, playing a crucial role, for example, in negotiating the support of Catalan nationalists to allow the formation of a new government in acknowledging that he "should not have trusted" Cerdán, Sánchez has insisted that he will see out the legislature, which is due to end in a letter to PSOE members he apologised again, while doubling down."There are many issues that affect the lives of the majority – healthcare, housing, pensions, jobs, fighting climate change and defending equality – and for which it is worth fighting still," he wrote. "Challenges that are not solved with headlines or lynchings."However, the opposition has presented the investigation as symptomatic of a corrupt regime, pointing to other probes affecting Sánchez and his circle.A judge has been investigating the prime minister's wife, Begoña Gómez, for possible business irregularities - and his musician brother, David, is due to go on trial for alleged influence peddling in taking up a public post in the south-western city of Badajoz. Meanwhile, the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, is also likely to face trial for revealing confidential details of a tax evader. All three deny wrongdoing. Sánchez and his supporters have cast these three affairs as part of a campaign orchestrated by the conservative People's Party (PP), the far-right Vox, right-wing media and factions within the judiciary. A number of judicial experts have expressed surprise at the zeal with which the investigations have been carried a raucous parliamentary session this week, opposition MPs chanted "Dimisión" (Resign) at the prime minister, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the PP, accused him of being "a wolf who has led a corrupt pack".Paco Camas, head of public opinion in Spain for polling firm Ipsos, sees a Sánchez resignation as "political suicide" for his party, because it would almost certainly trigger elections, allowing the PP to form a government, probably with the support of Vox."The overall trend right now is a demobilised electorate on the left, particularly for the Socialist party, and an enormous mobilisation of voters on the right, which is capitalising on the discontent with the government," Camas the Socialist president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, Emiliano García-Page, has warned that "there is no dignified way out" for the as long as Sánchez can keep his fragile parliamentary majority of left-wing and nationalist parties together there is little the opposition can do to bring him that end, the prime minister has been frantically trying to reassure these allies, many of who have voiced outrage at the Cerdán-Ábalos scandal. Camas believes that persuading them to support a 2026 budget could be a way for Sánchez to buy some such plans could be left in tatters were more explosive revelations to emerge, as many in the Socialist party worries will be playing on Sánchez's mind as he heads to the Nato summit in The an assured presence on the international stage, he will arrive with serious doubts about his future and under mounting pressure to raise Spain's defence his government has promised to increase military spending to 2% of economic output this year, it has been resisting calls from the United States and the Nato leadership to raise it further. Sánchez has now refused to accept a target of 5% of GDP for military spending, saying it "would not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive".
Euronews
14 hours ago
- Business
- Euronews
Spain rejects NATO's 5% of GDP spending proposal as 'unreasonable'
Spain rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defence 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. 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% of GDP on their defence and military needs. In early June, Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target. A NATO official said on Thursday that discussions between allies were ongoing about a new defence spending plan. "For Spain, committing to a 5% 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 defence ecosystem," Sánchez wrote in the letter that was seen by The Associated Press. Spain was the lowest spender in the trans-Atlantic alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defence expenditure. Sánchez said in April that the government would raise defence spending by €10.5 billion in 2025 to reach NATO's previous target of 2% 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 his country is "fully committed to NATO," but that meeting a 5% 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% of GDP to meet the Spanish military's estimated defence needs, Sánchez said. Domestic 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 among some of his 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% spending target, the move angered some coalition members further to the left of his Socialist Party. NATO allies agreed to spend 2% of GDP on military expenditure after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the alliance's plans for defending Europe and North America against a Russian attack require investments of at least 3%. The aim now is to raise the bar to 3.5% for core defence spending on tanks, warplanes, air defence, missiles and hiring extra troops. A further 1.5% 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%, 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. The Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, Michael O'Flaherty, has expressed serious concerns regarding the conduct of German authorities in response to pro-Gaza demonstrations. In a letter addressed to the German Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, O'Flaherty highlighted what he perceives as infringements on freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. 'Since February 2025, Berlin authorities have imposed restrictions on the use of the Arabic language and cultural symbols during protests. In certain instances, such as the demonstration held on 15 May 2025, marches were limited to static gatherings. Additionally, protestors have reportedly been subjected to intrusive surveillance—both online and in person—and arbitrary police checks,' O'Flaherty stated. The Commissioner also raised alarm over reports of disproportionate police violence during these events. 'I am deeply concerned by allegations of excessive force used by police against demonstrators, including minors, which in some cases led to injuries. The use of force by law enforcement must adhere to the principles of non-discrimination, legality, necessity, proportionality, and precaution,' he said. O'Flaherty has urged the German authorities to thoroughly investigate incidents of excessive force and to hold officers accountable where misconduct is found. He noted that police efforts to suppress Nakba Day commemorations—a remembrance of the 1948 displacement of Palestinians—were especially troubling. The Irish human rights advocate further pointed out that freedom of speech appears to be restricted within some German universities and cultural institutions. He cited reports of foreign nationals facing deportation following their involvement in pro-Gaza activities. 'I am concerned by indications that the working definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) is being interpreted by some German authorities in a manner that equates any criticism of Israel with antisemitism,' O'Flaherty wrote. Tensions have run high in Germany since the beginning of the Gaza conflict, with frequent clashes at pro-Palestinian rallies. During the Nakba protest in mid-May, demonstrators were heard chanting slogans such as 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'—phrasing considered antisemitic under German law. The event saw several injuries as confrontations escalated. In April, five students were arrested during a protest at Humboldt University for chanting anti-Israeli slogans. German police have also taken action against demonstrators displaying banned symbols, including altered Hamas slogans.
Telegraph
14 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Spain rejects Trump's Nato spending demands ahead of summit
Spain has rejected Donald Trump's 'unreasonable' demand that Nato members increase defence spending, throwing plans for a summit of alliance leaders into disarray. Next week's meeting in the Hague has been carefully designed to convince the US president to continue supporting Europe's defence. However, the refusal by Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, to commit to a new defence spending target of 5 per cent of GDP has jeopardised the carefully choreographed diplomacy. Mr Trump has threatened to withdraw US protection from allies which don't commit to the new target, which has been raised from 2 per cent amid fears over Russian aggression. Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, has broad support for an increase in military spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 and 1.5 per cent of investment in defence-adjacent areas such as transport infrastructure and cyber security. Mr Sánchez asked for Spain to be exempt from any spending target agreed next week or that the goal be made optional, even though Madrid has failed to meet even the original 2 per cent target. The letter from Europe's most influential Left-wing leader is a blow for Mr Rutte and could embolden the few other members reluctant to sign up to the 5 per cent. Germany and Poland are among the countries supporting the goal. Britain has committed to hit 2.5 per cent by 2027 but Sir Keir Starmer does not think the economy is strong enough to go above three per cent at this stage. In his letter, Mr Sánchez said hitting the target would only be possible by raising taxes on the middle class and cutting public services. The socialist premier said a 'rushed' effort to hit 5 per cent would damage economic growth and could force his government to slash net zero and development aid budgets. 'The empirical reality is that, for Spain, as for other Nato countries, reaching 5 per cent defence spending will be impossible unless it comes at the cost of increasing taxes on the middle class, cutting public services and social benefits for their citizens,' he wrote. He added that diverting money from education, technology and healthcare would cost the Spanish economy, as well as increase debt and inflation. In 2024, Spain spent just 1.28 per cent of GDP on defence, which has drawn criticism from the US president. Mr Sánchez claimed Spain was committed to the 2 per cent target but wanted the scope widened to include the fight against climate change and illegal migration. He has announced more than €10 billion of fresh defence investment to hit the 2 per cent target this year. But he faces a balancing act of aligning with Nato allies and cajoling his junior coalition partner, the far-Left alliance Sumar, which is hostile to increasing military spending. Mr Sánchez has taken swipes at Mr Trump and his political allies such as Javier Milei, the president of Argentina. Spain's formal recognition of Palestine and criticism of Israel will have won it no favours with the White House and neither will its liberal transgender rights laws. Mr Trump will be handed a one-page communiqué to sign off at the Nato leaders' summit in a concession to his short attention span and as part of an effort to head off a spending row between Europe and the US. Nato has cut back the 32-leader strong summit to just one working session of two and a half hours dedicated to the spending target. Strategic shortening of summit The meeting was originally meant to last three days, but shortening it will prevent Mr Trump from leaving early, as he did at the G7 meeting in Canada this week. Mr Trump's departure, ostensibly to respond to Israel's strikes on Iran, meant he missed talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president. Sources have claimed he left because he was angered Emmanuel Macron, the French president, had visited Greenland on his way to Canada. Mr Trump has said he wants to buy the Arctic Island, but Mr Macron declared that the Danish autonomous territory was 'not for sale'. Mr Zelensky has been invited to a dinner of Nato leaders on Tuesday night hosted by the King and Queen of the Netherlands, but will not take part in the summit. The US has ruled out future Nato membership for Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine said on Thursday that they had completed another exchange of captured soldiers, part of a deal reached earlier in June at peace talks in Istanbul. 'Our people are returning home from Russian captivity,' Mr Zelensky said on social media. Fighting between Iran and Israel could deflect global attention from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and even bolster the Kremlin's war effort, Ukrainian officials say. The conflict has pushed up the price of oil – a key revenue stream funding Russia's invasion. However, Kyiv has welcomed Israeli attacks on Iran, which has directly aided and provided weapons to Moscow for its own strikes on Ukraine.
