Spain's Sanchez vows to launch plan for defence boost by summer

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain, which has NATO's lowest defence spending as a share of its economy, will outline and start implementing a plan to boost the defence sector before the summer, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told lawmakers on Wednesday, without providing details.

"The objective of this plan is for Spain to contribute to and, at the same time, benefit from this technological and industrial stimulus to strengthen the European security and defence area, while remaining faithful to our principles," he said in a speech.

Spain spent just 1.3% of gross domestic product on defence in 2024 but has committed to meeting NATO's 2% target by 2029, and Sanchez says it will do so sooner than that. He is seeking to keep pace with European partners worried about Russia's threat and U.S. unreliability under President Donald Trump.

He has also argued that southern European countries have different challenges to those faced by eastern flank allies, and need to focus on border controls, fighting terrorism and cyber attacks, which he said should count as defence spending.

Sanchez suggested the creation of a joint EU fund for defence, similar to one approved to finance the recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic. The European Commission has already proposed that the bloc raise 150 billion euros for loans to governments for joint defence projects.

He promised that any increase in investment in security and defence would be carried out without cutting spending on social or environment policies.

Sanchez faces opposition at home from left-wing allies reluctant to sacrifice social spending for defence.

Conservative opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said that Sanchez, who heads a minority government, had no way to meet his commitments.

"You have no budget, you have no majority, you have nothing," Feijoo said in a response in the lower house.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Peter Graff)