Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Monday reiterated his calls for the creation of a “European Army” to ensure the security of the region “regardless” of the United States.
Albares has been a recurrent proponent of the creation of a E.U. army, a proposal he has notably repeated several times over the past months. The Foreign Minister once again called for the creation of said army in an interview with the public broadcaster RTVE.
“This is a time for Europe to take a leap forward in terms of its sovereignty,” Albares reportedly said. “That is why I believe that, as our American friends have been urging us to do for a long time, it is time for Europe to have a common security and a common deterrent, regardless of the United States’ position.”
Albares is expected to accompany socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to Ankara, Turkey, for this week’s NATO Summit. The Spanish Foreign Minister reportedly affirmed during the interview that the prospective “European Army,” which he also described as “common European security,” would “not go against NATO” nor does it have to replace the national armies of each European Union member.
Spain’s refusal to step up with its defense spending commitments to NATO has been a long point of contention between the European nation and the United States. President Donald Trump has been highly critical of Spain’s lack of commitment and repeated failure to fulfill NATO’s five percent GDP spending goal.
Spain alleges that its current 2.1 percent spending, which is less than half of the total goal, is “enough” to comply with the bloc’s obligations — an assertion that the nation’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles espoused this week.
Foreign Minister Albares defended Spain’s current defense spending figures during his interview with RTVE, affirming that the European nation is in “compliance” with NATO’s obligations.
“Let’s talk about the actual figures, Spain has reached two percent in capabilities, which is what matters in defense, and not all NATO allies who will be sitting at the summit table this Tuesday can say what Spain says with its head held high: there are two allies that have not reached two percent,” Albares said, “and there are three allies that have not delivered all the capabilities NATO has requested of them for collective defense.”
“So, I repeat, I wish all the allies could say what we can say: that we are in compliance,” he continued.
As Breitbart News reported in 2025, Spain is widely one of the worst-performing NATO member states, having only spent 1.3 percent of its GDP on defense during 2024, and barely raising it to 2.1 percent by over the past year. The Spanish government justifies its current spending figures citing a “rigorous study” that, according to the Sánchez administration, is “enough” to comply with NATO’s obligations — however, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has widely questioned the notion, affirming to reporters in June, “I think time will tell.”
President Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House alongside Rutte, described Spain’s resistance to uphold NATO’s commitments as a “horror show.”
“We’re disappointed with most of them. Spain is a horror show. Spain is terrible, even from your standpoint,” Trump said at the time. “I mean, they don’t want to pay anything. They think they’re in for a free ride. Spain is not a good group, not a good group at all.”