What prevents Spain from increasing military aid to Ukraine

According to official data from the Spanish government, since the start of the full-scale war Spain has carried out more than 100 military shipments to Ukraine worth over €2.8 billion.

This is a considerable amount, yet Spain remains one of Europe’s largest economies.

Moreover, there are also questions about the quality of the military equipment delivered to Ukraine.

With the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Fundacion Civismo, European Pravda journalist Iryna Kutielieva visited Madrid and discussed this situation with Spanish experts, politicians and media representatives.

Read more about why a country with one of Europe’s most stable economies hesitates to take a leading role in supporting Ukraine and shows little enthusiasm for strengthening its own defence capability in the article An ally in siesta mode: what might push Spain to boost its military aid to Ukraine. 

On 18 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Madrid. During the visit, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced plans to allocate another €615 million in military aid to Ukraine.

€300 million is intended for the implementation of the security agreement under which Spain agreed to provide €1 billion annually in military aid to Ukraine. Another €100 million will be allocated for the purchase of American weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the PURL instrument.

An additional €215 million will be provided through the EU’s SAFE instrument. These funds will finance the procurement of anti-drone equipment, radars and other systems, including those produced by Spanish manufacturers.

This may sound substantial, but Spain’s military contribution still does not look significant compared with other countries. At the same time, Spain’s humanitarian support for Ukraine is quite considerable.

Questions about the scale of military support arise even within Spain itself.

In addition to local journalists, who question whether Spain is doing enough for Ukraine, this topic also provides the opposition with an opportunity to criticise Prime Minister Sánchez.

The government defends itself by insisting that "Spain will always be part of the solution."

The main reason for Spain’s hesitation is political turbulence.

On many fundamental issues, including defence spending, Prime Minister Sánchez must take into account the position of his junior coalition partner, the left-wing party Sumar.

This party is traditionally very confrontational toward Israel and relatively less so toward Russia. Moreover, their priorities, like those of most left-wing forces, are social issues such as pensions, parental leave and gender equality. Spending on military aid to foreign countries simply does not fit into this agenda.

Furthermore, Spain has an even more left-wing political force, Podemos. They are not part of the ruling coalition but can offer Sánchez’s government occasional parliamentary support in exchange for concessions.

Podemos takes an even more pacifist stance on Ukraine.

Spain has never been at the forefront when it comes to defence spending. Madrid’s defence expenditure stood at only 1.32% of GDP until recently. Raising it to 2% already looks like a "feat" for Madrid.

Local journalists and politicians admit: the authorities simply do not inform the public about the risks Europe has faced since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

Russia’s hybrid attacks on EU countries have forced most European states to wake up. Spain, unfortunately, still prefers to "sleep."

Politicians, both in government and in the opposition, are not yet ready to speak openly about unpopular issues: the possibility of a coming war in Europe and the need for a radical reassessment of budget priorities.

This is understandable since only a year and a half remains before the next election.

However, Spain will not be able to ignore the concerns shared by most of Europe for long. Therefore, Spain’s slow "awakening" will continue.