“For countries like Spain and Italy, it will be very difficult to get their populations to back 5 per cent in a context where people perceive no imminent threat, even if the leaders say we are part of the EU and the EU faces a security threat from Russia.”
The Financial Times features Bernardo Navazo, CEO of Geopolitical Insights, in its coverage of Spain’s decision -for now- not to join NATO’s new target of allocating 5% of GDP to defence. Navazo notes that the Spanish government recognises the need to raise spending beyond the 2% threshold but requires time to build a public narrative to support such a move, given the country’s longstanding pacifist and anti-militarist tradition. He adds that the 5% goal is unrealistic for countries such as Spain or Italy, where public opinion does not perceive an immediate threat, making it politically difficult to justify that level of budgetary effort.
Link to the news item: https://www.ft.com/content/7ba5b9b1-7904-4785-95cd-9a16da57768f
