Latest news with #Sumar
Iraqi News
an hour ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
NATO scrambles to overcome Spain block on summit spending deal
Brussels – NATO struggled Friday to overcome a block from Spain on a new defence spending deal that US President Donald Trump has demanded for a summit next week. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday threw a last-minute hand grenade into preparations for the gathering in The Hague by coming out strongly against the agreement. In a blistering letter to NATO chief Mark Rutte, Sanchez said that committing to a headline figure of five percent of GDP 'would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive'. The outburst from Madrid's centre-left leader has sparked fury from other NATO members who fear it could derail the carefully crafted compromise designed to keep Trump happy at the summit. Ambassadors held a round of negotiations at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday, but broke up without a deal being reached. Several diplomats said talks could drag on through the weekend in an effort to reach a breakthrough or the start of the summit on Tuesday. 'There is no clarity yet,' one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations. In a bid to satisfy Trump's demand to spend five percent of GDP on defence, NATO chief Rutte has corralled allies towards a diplomatic trade-off. That would see them agree to coughing up 3.5 percent on core military needs, and 1.5 percent on a looser category of 'defence-related' expenditures such as infrastructure and cybersecurity. As a string of reluctant European capitals fell into line, officials believed they were comfortably on track to reach the deal for the Hague summit. Washington's allies fear that Trump — who has previously threatened not to protect countries he thinks don't spend enough — could blow a hole in NATO if he doesn't get what he wants. Spain has been one of the lowest spending NATO countries on defence in relative terms. The country is only set to hit the alliance's current target of two percent this year after a 10 billion euro ($11.5 billion) injection. Sanchez is facing a difficult 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.
France 24
6 hours ago
- Business
- France 24
NATO scrambles to overcome Spain block on summit spending deal
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday threw a last-minute hand grenade into preparations for the gathering in The Hague by coming out strongly against the agreement. In a blistering letter to NATO chief Mark Rutte, Sanchez said that committing to a headline figure of five percent of GDP "would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive". The outburst from Madrid's centre-left leader has sparked fury from other NATO members who fear it could derail the carefully crafted compromise designed to keep Trump happy at the summit. Ambassadors held a round of negotiations at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday, but broke up without a deal being reached. Several diplomats said talks could drag on through the weekend in an effort to reach a breakthrough or the start of the summit on Tuesday. "There is no clarity yet," one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations. In a bid to satisfy Trump's demand to spend five percent of GDP on defence, NATO chief Rutte has corralled allies towards a diplomatic trade-off. That would see them agree to coughing up 3.5 percent on core military needs, and 1.5 percent on a looser category of "defence-related" expenditures such as infrastructure and cybersecurity. As a string of reluctant European capitals fell into line, officials believed they were comfortably on track to reach the deal for the Hague summit. Washington's allies fear that Trump -- who has previously threatened not to protect countries he thinks don't spend enough -- could blow a hole in NATO if he doesn't get what he wants. Spain has been one of the lowest spending NATO countries on defence in relative terms. The country is only set to hit the alliance's current target of two percent this year after a 10 billion euro ($11.5 billion) injection. Sanchez is facing a difficult 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. © 2025 AFP
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
NATO 5% spending target ‘unreasonable' for Spain: PM
MADRID: Any NATO target to ramp up defence spending to five percent of annual economic output would be 'unreasonable' for Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday ahead of a crucial alliance summit. The June 24-25 gathering in The Hague comes as US President Donald Trump demands other NATO members shoulder a greater burden and Russia's grinding war in Ukraine forces Europe to bolster its own security capabilities. Germany and Poland are among the countries supporting the goal of five percent of gross domestic product, up from a two-percent goal set in 2014, but Spain has resisted its allies' calls to go further. 'For Spain, committing to a 5 percent target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive,' Sanchez told NATO chief Mark Rutte in a letter written in English. Sanchez said each NATO member needed to invest different sums to meet their military capability targets, with the military estimating that 2.1 percent would suffice for Spain. Spain does not want to limit other NATO allies' spending ambitions but seeks 'a more flexible formula' at the summit, Sanchez said. NATO chief hopeful of spending deal as meets allies in Rome This declaration could recognise each NATO ally's different path to its capability target, making the five-percent spending target optional, or exclude Spain from the new goal, Sanchez suggested. In 2024, Spain was the NATO member that dedicated the smallest proportion of its annual economic output to defence and found itself in the firing line of Trump's ire. Sanchez has announced more than 10 billion euros ($11.5 billion) of fresh defence investment to hit the two-percent 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. Sanchez argued accelerating spending would rush Spain into defence purchases that could 'exacerbate equipment interoperability challenges' and prevent European suppliers 'from developing their own industrial base'. A spending spree risked weighing down economic growth through higher debt and inflation and diverting investment from areas such as health and education, he warned. 'If we truly want to increase real spending in a sustained way, our main goal should be to ensure that our economies grow significantly.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spain's Sanchez names new party leadership to limit damage from graft probe
MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez named four people to take over the leadership of his Socialist party on Monday as he sought to contain the damage from a corruption inquiry that threatens the survival of his fragile minority government. Sanchez named the team to replace Santos Cerdan, who stepped down after a Supreme Court judge called him to testify over accusations in a police report that he discussed taking payments in exchange for awarding public works contracts. Cerdan, who was no. 3 in the party's hierarchy, coordinating between different regions as its organisational secretary, has said he will testify to prove his innocence. "We are not perfect, but we are uncompromising when it comes to corruption," Sanchez said in a press conference in Madrid. The new team will remain in place until July 5, when the Socialists will hold a party congress where a permanent replacement for Cerdan will be named, Sanchez said. Last week, Sanchez resisted calls for a snap election after the allegations emerged, instead promising an overhaul of the party and an external audit of its accounts. However, even some allies have raised concerns that those measures were insufficient to restore public trust for a party that came to power in 2018 after a no-confidence vote ejected then-Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the People's Party when it was embroiled in the biggest corruption probe in Spain's democratic history. A number of senior Socialist figures have called for an extraordinary party congress, while a former regional leader suggested Sanchez should call a snap election. Sanchez will on Monday evening kick off a series of meetings with coalition partners and informal allies, starting with Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, of the junior coalition partner Sumar, who on Friday said that Sanchez's pleas for forgiveness over the probe were not enough and called for a "reset" of the government. However, with Sumar's support in the opinion polls having slipped, she is unlikely to pull the plug on the coalition and risk an election. That position is similar to that of other allies who support the government and would fear that any confidence motion or fresh election might usher in the far-right Vox party as coalition partners to the conservative PP.
Int'l Business Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Spanish PM Vows To Fight On As Corruption Scandal Grows
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is fighting to keep his job, as corruption allegations prompted the resignation of a close aide and sparked tension in his minority coalition. The scandal erupted on Thursday after the Supreme Court said Santos Cerdan, the third-highest ranking figure in Sanchez's Socialist party, was suspected of involvement in awarding of public works contracts in return for kickbacks. The case is linked to a broader investigation that already ensnared former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, once a close ally of the prime minister. Sanchez is not accused of any wrongdoing but the case adds to mounting legal scrutiny of his inner circle. His wife, brother and Spain's top prosecutor, who was appointed by Sanchez's government, are all under judicial investigation in separate cases. The scandals-- none of which have gone beyond the preliminary investigation phase -- have fuelled demands from his critics for him to resign and call early elections. Centre-right newspaper El Mundo wrote in an editorial on Friday it was "untenable" for him to continue. The situation was "agonising" for the Socialist leader, who was been in office since 2018, wrote conservative newspaper ABC. Speaking at his party's headquarters on Thursday, a sombre-looking Sanchez apologised for the scandal but vowed to serve out his term until 2027. But his ruling coalition junior partner, far-left party Sumar, called for a change in the government's direction in the wake of the scandal. "It's not enough to say sorry," Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, the founder of Sumar, told reporters. At the same time Catalan separatist party Junts has requested an urgent meeting with Socialist leaders to assess the viability of the legislature. Sanchez's fragile minority government relies on Junts to pass laws in parliament. Paloma Roman, a political science professor at Madrid's Complutense University, said Sanchez may be forced to call a confidence vote to reassert control. "What Sanchez needs to do now is to calm his allies' criticism by providing them with more information and addressing the issue of confidence," she told AFP. The government has so far refused to call a confidence vote. "The prime minister has to keep earning the public's trust every day, as he's doing," Oscar Lopez, a cabinet minister who is close to Sanchez, said Friday during an interview with news radio Cadena Ser. "He has a duty to carry out his campaign promises and not let down the millions who voted for him," he added when asked whether a vote of confidence was being considered. The main opposition Popular Party (PP) has called repeatedly for Sanchez to step down. But PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, has ruled out the idea of proposing a motion in parliament to try to topple Sanchez, warning it could backfire and bolster the Socialist leader if it fails. He instead urged Sanchez's allies to reconsider their support, saying they would be complicit in "the biggest wave of corruption" if they refused. Analysts say Sanchez's coalition partners are reluctant to withdraw their support, fearing that doing so could pave the way for a PP government supported by far-right party Vox -- a prospect many regional and leftist parties view as unacceptable. "They won't let Sanchez fall -- not out of love, but because they fear a PP-Vox government even more," said Roman. Sanchez came to power in June 2018 after ousting his predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, in a no-confidence vote over corruption scandals involving the PP. Most recent opinion polls show the PP holding a slim lead over the Socialists.
