Spain agrees with NATO to skip 5% defence spending target

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain agreed with the NATO military alliance to be excluded from spending 5% of its gross domestic product on defence, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday.

"A 5% spending would be disproportionate and unnecessary," Sanchez said in an address on national television.

"We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defence investment, but we are not going to do it," he said, adding Spain could meet all its commitments to NATO, in terms of staff or equipment, by spending only 2.1% of its GDP.

Diplomats had said earlier on Sunday the 32 countries comprising NATO had agreed on a statement for the upcoming summit setting a goal of 5% of GDP for annual defence and security related by 2035 overcoming Spain's objection.

In a letter sent on Thursday, Sanchez had told NATO chief Mark Rutte his country wanted to opt out of a new 5% spending target. The letter raised concerns that Spain would derail the whole summit.

At an estimated 1.28% of GDP, Spain had the lowest proportion of expenditure on defence in the alliance last year, according to NATO estimates. Sanchez agreed in April to accelerate efforts to meet NATO's current target of 2% this year.

(Reporting by Ana Cantero, editing by Inti Landauro)