Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has reportedly told Nato secretary general Mark Rutte that the proposed change of the alliance’s target for defence spending to 5% GDP “would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive,” as reported by the Spanish media (14:37).
The liberal Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony vowed to defiantly hold the Budapest Pride march despite a Hungarian police ban, saying the order had “no value” (13:32). The decision comes a day after multiple EU lawmakers expressed their solidarity with the organisers (12:45).
The Finnish parliament voted in favour of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines, amid growing worries about Russia’s intentions in the region (11:55).
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “choosing to kill,” as he and his government ministers marked 100 days since Ukraine agreed to the US proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, but with no pick up from the Russian side (9:35, 10:30)
I will be back tomorrow with more updates from across Europe.
But for now, that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Reuters have had sight of the letter from the Spanish PM, Pedro Sánchez, to Nato chief Mark Rutte, asking him to exclude Spain from raising its defence spending target to 5% of GDP.
Sanchez requested a “more flexible formula” that either makes the spending target optional or excludes Spain from its application.
In the letter, Sánchez wrote:
Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and and defence ecosystem.
He added that the new target, proposed by the US, was “incompatible with our welfare state and our world vision”.
Instead, Madrid estimates it will need to spend 2.1% of GDP to meet the Spanish military’s estimated investment requirements, Sanchez said.
