The coalition government, formed by PSOE and Unidas Podemos, has given the green light to contracts worth more than 16,000 million in defense matters since it has been in office.. In the nine meetings of the Council of Ministers that have been held since last July 23, there have been numerous agreements or contracts on this matter and their nature is very diverse.. They range from the agreement that will allow, for up to 4 years, to finance support for the Navy's S-80 submarines to the acquisition of a maritime surveillance aircraft system. And all this has happened without the Morados or Sumar raising their voices in a very strident manner despite the anti-militarist component of these formations..
It must be taken into account that this amount does not appear in full in the General State Budgets of a single year.. In many cases these are commitments that extend over several years and even beyond one legislature.. This is what happens, for example, with the program to acquire 25 new Eurofighters that will replace the American-made F-18s that now serve in the Armed Forces.. This measure is included in the modification of the spending ceiling that received the green light at the Council of Ministers meeting on September 12 and, in the case of the replacement of the fighters, will be extended until 2035.. By then, the State will have dedicated more than 4.5 billion euros to this task.
The meeting of September 12 is the one that included greater spending on its agenda, with some 8.8 billion blocked in the next decade for the purchase of materials and programs for the three armies.. Within the package was also the conclusion of the contract to acquire “an aerial multi-sensor surveillance system” to replace the current maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft.. According to the reference that is published after each Council of Ministers, the processing of the file to purchase these 16 aircraft will serve to “recover the military capabilities necessary to meet NATO objectives for Spain.”. And here, in this sentence, is the key that explains the deployment of spending launched by the Government of Pedro Sánchez in terms of defense..
NATO is the key
The objective of many of these purchases or increases in the spending ceiling is to “guarantee the national commitments acquired” with the Atlantic Alliance. This is nothing other than achieving the objective of dedicating 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense. In 2022, the last full year, the percentage dedicated to the area directed by Margarita Robles was 1.47% and Pedro Sánchez's commitment to NATO has a limit of 2029, so logic says that these types of contracts will not make more than multiplying in the next legislature if the socialist manages to be invested again and form a Government. An Executive of which Sumar will be a part with complete security if it is formed.
It must be taken into account that many of the programs that have received the green light in recent weeks come from previous commitments, but the fury of defense spending has a lot to do with the geopolitical scenario. The war waged by Russia, under the mandate of Vladimir Putin, in Ukraine, has turned the paradigms that existed just two years ago on its head.. Analysts, as this media has previously reported, find another explanation for this investment vigor: the State of the materials that the Armed Forces have, which has made it almost mandatory to launch some of these contracts..
The coalition government, reports Enrique Andrés Pretel, has promoted in this legislature some 25 new weapons programs (more than 26,000 million euros for future exercises), in addition to allocating resources to more than a dozen of those that were ongoing. But getting them ahead requires bureaucracy.. The arms plans must go through the Council of Ministers twice, once to receive the green light and once for the authorization of the contract.. Defense had promoted 18 new projects since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine and the sector was preparing to digest more than 15,000 million euros pending final green light before the electoral advance.
What has happened later is that many of these programs are those that have received the blessing of the Council of Ministers after the electoral call.. Unidas Podemos has protested these decisions, although without much fuss. Ione Belarra, General Secretary of Podemos and Minister of Social Rights, published a tweet on September 15, two days after the meeting that gave the green light to 8.8 billion in spending, to show her disagreement.. “Every euro that is allocated to increasing military spending is not dedicated to health, education or economically protecting families,” said the purple leader on her X account, the old Twitter. Sources from Unidas Podemos add that Belarra showed her rejection of the contracts and agreements within the Council of Ministers.
The PSOE, for its part, avoids the military debate and promotes this type of decisions protected by Sánchez's commitments to NATO, which have not been affected by the elections or by the almost three months that the Government has been in office, as demonstrate the dozens of agreements approved on these dates. These types of decisions do not have to go through Congress, where they could even garner the support of the PP, which has shown itself open to doing so. However, taking the debate to the Lower House would give rise to dissension between the partners of the Executive and the PSOE with some of the potential allies who should support Sánchez's investiture. This practice also includes the decision to modify the agreement with the US to expand the number of ships stationed at the Rota base, which has not passed through the San Jerónimo Race.