Belgium wants NATO flexibility following Spain's 'noisy' outburst

BRUSSELS

Belgian Vice-prime minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prevot talks during a plenary session of the Chamber at the federal parliament, in Brussels, on June 12, 2025

Belgium Monday said it was seeking "maximum flexibility" from NATO on ramped-up defense spending targets to be agreed at a summit this week after fellow laggard Spain insisted it had won an exception.

Madrid said on June 22 it would not need to hit the 5 percent of GDP demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump, setting up a potential clash at a two-day gathering starting today in The Hague.

On Monday, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot told local media that while Brussels had to show "willingness to get back in line" after years of underspending, the target was beyond its "budgetary reach."

"We may not have done so by making a noisy statement like Spain, but I can assure you that for weeks our diplomats have been working hard to obtain the flexibility mechanisms... that could help to lighten the burden of the Belgian effort," he told RTBF radio. "We're asking for maximum flexibility."

Under a deal greenlit by NATO countries on June 22, allies promise to reach 3.5 percent on core military needs over the next decade, and spend 1.5 percent on a looser category of "defense-related" expenditures such as infrastructure and cybersecurity.

The pledge is seen as key both to satisfying Trump, who has threatened not to protect allies spending too little, and helping NATO build up the forces it needs to deter Russia.

Multiple diplomats at NATO said the agreement, set to be unveiled at the summit, had gone through with the approval of all 32 nations and that there was no exemption for Madrid.

But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez contended he had struck an accord that would see his country keep respecting its commitments "without having to raise our defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product."