Montero affirms that defense spending will increase in the PGE to meet the objective with NATO

MADRID, 9 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Finance, Maria Jesús Montero, stated this Friday that the Government is planning an increase in defense spending in the face of the next General State Budgets in order to meet, over the next few years, the objective of two percent agreed with the NATO.

This was stated by Montero in an interview on Cadena Ser, collected by Europa Press, in which the minister recalled that the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, had previously presented a compliance commitment to increase investment in defense raised with the NATO.

Likewise, the Minister of the Treasury addressed Spanish citizens, reiterating that "it is not an expense in guns and bullets" but rather that the defense industry "is a technological industry", and has underlined that it fundamentally produces "an armament hybrid" which is intended primarily for security.

In addition, it has highlighted the fundamental role that this industry has in creating jobs. Specifically, Montero has given the example of the companies 'Airbus' or 'Navantia' in Seville, which have "a very important volume of people hired".

"It's about creating many jobs to make this country a safe country against the new threats that come," added Montero, while referring to technological threats because wars "are not just shooting."

The minister has warned that energy blackmail or technologies to invade a database "could expose the security of a country". For this reason, she has conveyed that the Executive will continue to work for security and, based on this, they will increase defense.