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Brussels – The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain, José Manuel Albares, has assured that Spain sets an example in military assistance to Ukraine and did not need a proposal from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, to announce its aid for 2025, in light of the plan by the head of European diplomacy to provide up to 40 billion euros to strengthen the shipment of military materials to Ukraine.
In statements prior to the meeting of EU foreign ministers, the Spanish minister defended Spain’s contributions to the Ukrainian army against the Russian invasion, emphasizing the announcement by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, of a new package of military aid for this year worth 1 billion euros, matching the amount provided in 2024.
“Spain did not need a proposal from the High Representative to commit one billion euros for this year as we have already done in previous years, therefore Spain is ahead in that regard and setting the example,” he assured, in view of Kallas’ plan for member states to voluntarily mobilize a minimum of 20 billion in military aid to Ukraine for this year, with the aim of potentially reaching 40 billion, depending on Ukrainian needs and considering Washington’s withdrawal.
The instrument is presented as a voluntary vehicle whose total amount would be distributed according to the economic weight of each participating country, so Spain would correspond around 8.68% of the fund or more than 3 billion.
Asked about this, Albares stressed that “there is no distribution at the moment,” arguing that the proposal is still in the debate stage within the 27.
“What I hope is that everyone makes national contributions as Spain has done,” he indicated, assuring that an important part is how to achieve that predictable financing for Ukraine, while member states maintain the effort to increase defense spending.
After Pedro Sánchez confirmed that Spain will accelerate the pace of investment in light of pressures at the EU and NATO levels, Albares avoided giving further details on when the goal of reaching 2% defense spending can be achieved and whether the Executive will bring it to Congress.
“The 2% is a firm commitment, the Government has been taking steps towards it for many years,” he indicated, although he avoided giving further details on when the new goal will be reached, arguing that he is not the Minister of Finance.
Regarding the way to approve the increase in the Defense budget, the Foreign Minister assured that “everything that needs to go through Congress will go through” and that government members have no problem going to the Courts to explain this issue. (March 17)