Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has defended a plan to increase his country’s military budget, opposed by his ruling bloc allies, calling it necessary in light of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

During the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Spain’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Madrid, which was attended by King Felipe VI of Spain and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, he noted that “the war in Ukraine opened the eyes of European societies and Spanish society, and many understood that our security cannot be guaranteed indefinitely.”

He stressed that it is necessary to strengthen the defense capability of their country. He pointed out that this can only be done by increasing investment in the defense sector. Notably, Spain ranks next to last among NATO countries in terms of military spending, ahead of Luxembourg, according to the latest NATO data, and Spain invests just over 1 percent of its GDP in defense, i.e. a percentage that Sanchez promised to raise to 2 percent, at the request of the alliance.