Is Pedro Sánchez's spectacle at NATO inspired by a country outside the Alliance?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) today finally approved the 5% of GDP target for defense spending.

NATO exposes Sánchez's lie: Spain's supposed exception does not exist
Pedro Sánchez creates tensions with NATO to please his most pro-Russian partners

A distraction to cover up his corruption scandals

This objective has been reflected in The Hague Summit Declaration, which states: "Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations." The declaration does not establish any exception for Spain, refuting the hoax launched by Pedro Sánchez last Sunday.

Just like the other heads of state and government of the Alliance have done, Sánchez has also signed that commitment and immediately afterward he boasted of not having signed it, demonstrating once again that he is a pathological liar and that his objective Attending this summit was not intended to address issues related to defense and security: the socialist leader was primarily going to put on a show to distract public attention from the corruption scandals affecting his family, his government, and his party.

Putting his political survival above the security of Spain

Of course, Sánchez has other secondary (or perhaps not so secondary) reasons for putting on this show and trying to undermine NATO unity, seriously damaging Spain's image. I pointed out here on Monday that Sánchez's communist partners reject this increase in defense investment. The socialist leader needs the support of these far-left parties to remain in power, especially at a time when his government is particularly weak due to corruption scandals. Thus, Sánchez puts his personal interests before the security of Spain and Europe, which is no surprise, as throughout his term he has demonstrated that his main concern in politics is promoting his own personal interests. This is precisely what explains why he is currently surrounded by corruption scandals.

Sánchez's communist partners and their pro-Russian stance

There is another possible secondary reason for Sánchez's attitude. That reason answers a very simple question: Which countries could benefit from Sánchez's maneuvers to weaken and break NATO's unity? Obviously, the answer must be sought in countries outside the Alliance, and there aren't many options.

The first interested party would be Russia, a power that Sánchez's communist partners have clearly favored for years, as we have seen after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, an invasion in the face of which Sánchez's partners have dedicated more criticism to the United States and NATO than to Russia. Examples of this can be seen here, here, here and here.

Let us also remember that one of Sánchez's current ministers, the communist Sira Rego, was among the only four Spanish MEPs who did not want to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a vote held on March 1, 2022 in the European Parliament.

Spain's relationship with Russia under Sánchez is disturbing. Let's simply recall the fact that Spain has not stopped buying Russian gas after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, making it one of the European countries that imports the most gas from Russia. If this is already criticizable in itself, another fact must be added: in 2021 Sánchez and his allies from the pro-Russian far left banned gas extraction in Spain, a decision that has clearly favored Moscow's interests and which remains uncorrected.

The shadow of possible blackmail by Morocco against Sánchez

Another option is Morocco. That North African country has coveted Spanish territories for decades: Ceuta, Melilla, the Canary Islands, and other Spanish strongholds in North Africa. Strategically, Morocco would be one of the countries most interested in Spain having weak armed forces, so that it could not defend itself against a Moroccan attack against the aforementioned sites.

The possibility that Morocco influenced Sánchez's attitude at this summit is especially considerable. Let us remember that in 2022 Sánchez betrayed 46 years of Spanish foreign policy by recognizing Western Sahara as Moroccan territory, a decision he made personally and unexpectedly, without consulting Congress.

That same year, the Sánchez government dissolved an elite unit made up of 150 Civil Guards that successfully combated drug trafficking from Morocco, a controversial decision that benefited that country, which is the world's leading producer of hashish and which in 2021, it had legalized cannabis, from which hashish is derived.

Furthermore, in April 2023 it was discovered that Morocco was selling Russian oil to Spain. The Sánchez government knew about this and did nothing to prevent it, even though the sale violated European sanctions against Russia. As if all of the above were not enough, in February 2024 Sánchez announced that Spain will invest 45 billion euros in Morocco between now and 2050, an amount that would allow us to cover a large part of the commitment established today by NATO, but which instead will end up in the coffers of a country that intends to keep territories that are part of Spain.

For years, the shadow of blackmail has loomed over these controversial decisions. And this is not an unfounded conspiracy theory. Let us remember that in May 2022, the Spanish government acknowledged that in May 2021, Pedro Sánchez's mobile phone was spied on twice, in which 2.6 GB and 130 MB of data were extracted using the Pegasus cyber-espionage program. In May 2023, a European Union commission named Morocco as the author of this act of espionage.

A spectacle that could have very negative consequences for Spain.

Whatever the reason for Sánchez's attitude, the consequences of this spectacle are going to be very negative for Spain. The image of our country has been seriously damaged by the irresponsible and unsupportive attitude of the socialist leader, and the result at the international level has been captured in the photo of the event that heads this article, with a displaced and marginalized Sánchez: a preview of the future that awaits Spain because of him.

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Photo: NATO.