Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has signalled he is ready to push ahead with a common European army and defence industry – even if not all EU members are on board.
“Europe must move forward in its integration process and equip itself with a truly common defence. And for that we do not need the unanimous agreement of all 27 member states,” he told Spanish daily La Vanguardia in an interview published on Sunday.
His remarks come amid renewed statements from Washington that it wants to control Greenland, arguing the Danish territory needs US protection to prevent it from falling into Chinese or Russian hands.
Sánchez said that if the US has “legitimate concerns over the Arctic’s security,” it should raise them with its NATO allies. He warned that taking the island by force would amount to NATO’s “death certificate.”
“Putin would be doubly happy,” he said, adding that the EU needs to accelerate its defence agenda.
When asked whether EU leaders have discussed the idea of a smaller group of countries moving ahead independently on defence, Sánchez said they have – but only in an “abstract” way.
This week, several NATO members – including France, Germany and the UK – deployed a small number of troops to Greenland for a Danish-led reconnaissance mission, but Spain did not take part.
Sánchez said no decision has been made on sending troops to Greenland and that he will consult the opposition leader and other political groups.
The NATO deployment drew a sharp response from US President Donald Trump on Saturday. Despite reports that US troops were invited to the exercise, he threatened participating countries with fresh tariffs.
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Sánchez also rejected calls for defence spending to reach 5% of GDP, calling the figure “unacceptable” because it would require cuts to social spending.
“Spain believes that with spending of just over 2% it is more than meeting the capabilities demanded of us today,” he said, noting Denmark is allocating 5% while being pressured by the US.
(vib)