Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez regards defense technology upgrades as EU priority

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in Brussels on Thursday that the EU should focus on strengthening its technological capabilities to defend itself, rather than building more weapons.

Sanchez refers to a white paper issued by the top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas, who said his “main objection” revolves around the term “re-escalation.”

“We have to speak in a different way, and address our citizens in another way when we talk about the need to improve security and European defense capabilities,” he said.

“The EU is a political project with soft power and we have a tough responsibility today. We are not only very committed to increasing our defence spending, but also to have this security perspective.”

He said southern European countries face different challenges to those faced by their eastern side allies and need to focus on strengthening border controls and fighting terrorism and cyber attacks.

“When we talk about these new financial instruments and fiscal rules capabilities that we will have in the coming years, these are things we need to consider,” he said.

Socialist Sanchez tried to keep pace with European partners to strengthen military spending and strategic autonomy, while facing opposition from left-wing alliance partners, who were reluctant to compromise on social spending.

Spain has the lowest GDP share in NATO in 2024, below 1.3%.

(Reported by Inti Landauro, Editor of Andrei Khalip, Aislinn Laing, Alexandra Hudson)