Spain and Rutte Locked in a Showdown on Eve of NATO Summit

By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatens to derail a NATO summit that Secretary General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival.

On the eve of the gathering in The Hague, things are going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their number one task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP. Rutte needs to keep Spain in line while preventing others like Slovakia from breaking ranks.