Spain to Increase Defense Spending by Raising Military Pay

On February 18, in the face of the restructuring of the geopolitical balance and the pressure to increase military spending, the Spanish Ministry of Defense will approve a decree to raise the salaries of members of the Spanish Armed Forces. This means that Spain's defense spending will increase by 400 million euros.

According to sources from the Spanish Ministry of Defense, this decision is made to fulfill Spain's international commitments in the field of security and defense. Shortly before this decision was put forward, the Spanish Prime Minister had proposed to seek the support of regional partners in the process of increasing defense spending and urged the EU to "establish a joint mechanism".

Over the past week, the Prime Minister and his cabinet members have been modifying the tone regarding Spain's defense spending. Previously, the government only stated that Spain would increase its defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2029.

On the 17th, the government proposed that EU countries should make joint expenditures. Now, after the US President and the Russian government reached an agreement on holding bilateral negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, the Spanish government has begun to question US military aid, using this as a reason for the necessity of increasing defense spending.

The plan put forward by the Spanish Ministry of Defense to increase defense spending means that the special allowances for all members of the armed forces will increase by 200 euros per month. In addition, the 100 - euro reward allowance for military personnel in all positions will remain unchanged starting from 2024.

The planned increase in defense spending by the Ministry of Defense is the largest direct increase in recent years and will partially make up for the gap in military pay. Increasing military pay is a common demand of various political parties in Spain.

Ministry of Defense sources pointed out that another purpose of this measure is to ensure that the effective work of the armed forces in maintaining peace, providing services to citizens, or intervening in emergencies is "fully and fairly" rewarded. To this end, the Spanish Ministry of Defense will convene a meeting of the Personnel Committee of the Armed Forces.