Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for the formation of a “European Armed Forces” in light of U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s threats to use military force to take control of Greenland.
Despite having chronically underinvested in its own defence, the socialist government in Madrid appears intent on pushing forward the globalist project of forming an EU Army. Following comments earlier this month from his Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, backing a common defence force, Prime Minsiter Sanchéz publicly expressed support for integrating Europe’s militaries.
Speaking to the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia, the socialist leader said: “If the U.S. has legitimate concerns about security in the Arctic, this should be raised in NATO’s North Atlantic Council. Faced with this situation, Europe must advance its integration process and equip itself with a truly common defence.”
Sanchéz said that it would not necessarily require all 27 member states to agree, but could rather be started by a select group of European powers with the aim of expanding outward.
“A number of countries can move forward in this integration process toward truly European Armed Forces, with a truly European defence industry, and we can build bridges with other countries around the world that are also deeply concerned about what is happening. Europe must act,” he said.
Perhaps sensing that the United States is increasingly reluctant to subsidise Europe’s defence, Madrid may be seeking to solidify its own protection from the more significant militaries of France and Germany. The move would seemingly achieve a long-term aim of President Trump to pressure Europeans to pay for their own security.
However, it is unclear if the leftist Spanish government would be willing to significantly increase its defence spending to accomplish the goal of an EU Army.
Spain, which has only recently begun to meet the previous NATO defence spending minimum of 2 per cent of GDP, has so far refused to increase defence spending to the new standard of 5 per cent following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We are not going to cut social, healthcare, education, and science programs to further increase military spending that is not currently designed to strengthen the European defence industry,” the PM said.
“Spain believes that with spending just over 2 per cent, it is more than meeting the capabilities currently required of it. Consider this: Denmark has committed to 5 per cent. What is Denmark’s situation today? Harassed by the United States. What are we talking about?” he said.
Similarly, Prime Minister Sanchéz also prevaricated on the issue of deploying Spanish troops to Greenland, merely saying: “We are in talks with the other countries involved, and particularly with Denmark at a technical level. I will discuss this with the leader of the opposition and with the parliamentary groups. Spain has not yet made a decision on this matter.”
Committing troops to Greenland in recent weeks has come with a hefty penalty, with U.S. President Donald Trump announcing a 10 per cent tariff on the eight countries that deployed soldiers to the area, including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
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