Pedro Sánchez: "Spain will always be part of the solutions, which include strengthening the multilateral order and Europe, and a just and lasting peace in Ukraine"

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain during his appearance before the media to report on the meetings he held with the leaders of the different parliamentary groups (Pool Moncloa / Jose Manuel Álvarez)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, stated that "Spain, as a country committed to the multilateral order and to Europe, will always be part of the solutions, and we are naturally willing to contribute to this solution, which must involve strengthening the multilateral order, strengthening Europe and achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine".

In his appearance before the press, at the end of the round of meetings with the different parliamentary groups, the head of the Executive assured that "the great lesson that we have to draw from everything that is happening on the other side of the Atlantic, and also on the eastern front of Europe, is that perhaps Europe for many years has delegated and outsourced security and defence to other actors" and "it is time for Europe to take a step forward and increase its security and defence capabilities", because "there is nobody better than ourselves to look after ourselves".

This, he said, is the Government of Spain's approach, and for this reason, "we applaud and support all the steps that President Von der Leyen is taking to strengthen European security and defence, which for many years we have not strengthened as we should have in the face of threats such as those currently being suffered by a large part of Europe".

Defence Spending

The President of the Government of Spain shared with the parliamentary groups that "Spain is prepared to meet the defence budget of 2% of Gross Domestic Product" and "bring forward the commitment we had to reach that 2% before 2029", as agreed at the last NATO Summit. "We are doing it out of commitment to Europe and we are also doing it out of solidarity with those countries (Nordic, Baltic and Central European) that are asking us for the solidarity that we also asked for during the health emergency," he stressed.

The President of the Government of Spain during his appearance before the media to report on the meetings he held with the leaders of the different parliamentary groups | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

Sánchez explained that for any of the Eastern European, Nordic or Baltic nations, "the threat requires a response in which deterrence rests, above all, on investment in defence, but in the case of Spain this is not the case". "Our threat is not a Russia bringing its troops across the Pyrenees to the Iberian Peninsula", but a more hybrid threat, based on cyber-attacks, the fight against terrorism, civil protection and also some defence aspects that we have to cover. Therefore, "what we have to do is talk not only about defence, but fundamentally about security" and, when we define what expenditure can or cannot be counted as a public deficit, and not be included in these fiscal rules, we have to talk not only about defence but also about security, a much broader concept.

Likewise, the head of the Executive argued that the new financial instrument proposed by the EU, endowed with 150 billion euros, "should not only be for loans, but also for transfers".

Sánchez also pointed out that the important thing is to "invest better and invest together", and that this "can also be an opportunity for Spain", because the commitment we will be making to a larger security and defence budget "will be a commitment to technology and industry in our country" and, therefore, "it is a time for start-ups, technological entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises, together with the large corporations linked to the defence industry, to step forward and together we can all contribute to the great technological leap forward that Europe needs and which I believe Spain can lead".

No cuts in social policy

In contrast to those who argue that allocating resources to security and defence means taking them away from other areas, the President pointed out that "fortunately Spain is growing" and was categorical in stating that "we will continue investing in social policy and we will not be cutting a single cent from social policy, from social cohesion", in order to meet this commitment we have with Europe and also with our own country in the area of security and defence.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, addresses the media during the press conference following the meetings with the different parliamentary groups | Pool Moncloa/José Manuel Álvarez

The President thanked all the groups for attending today's meetings at La Moncloa and for "the dialogue we have promoted" on Ukraine and Europe, because "beyond political differences and discrepancies, we all share the same objectives, which have to do with how Spain contributes to peace in Ukraine, to stability and security in Europe, and, without a doubt, also to the prosperity of Spanish society as a whole".

On the situation in Ukraine, Sánchez told the groups that "a window of opportunity has opened to achieve a ceasefire" and that Spain and Europe's position is "to continue to support Ukraine so that it reaches the negotiating table as strong as possible". "Spain is doing its best, as one of the main contributors to peace and the defence of Ukraine," he stressed. In his opinion, "any just and lasting peace has to strengthen the multilateral order, and therefore not reward the aggressor, because that would mean opening the door to future aggressions" and "it has to serve to strengthen the European Union and also Ukraine", he concluded.

Non official translation