The PP proposes to guarantee by law an "adequate financing" of the defense in the pact that it will offer to the parties

Supports the creation of a European military force as a "complement to NATO", digitizing the Armies and promoting an area on cyberspace

MADRID, 14 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Popular Party proposes to guarantee by law "adequate financing" for national defense in the defense and security cooperation pact that it will offer to the Government and the parties. In addition, it advocates the "strengthening of Spanish participation in collective security schemes, particularly NATO."

These are some of the points that Alberto Núñez Feijóo's PP includes in the proposal that it will send to the Executive and parliamentary forces throughout this week, as confirmed on Monday by the Deputy Secretary of Institutional Affairs, Esteban González Pons, who coordinates the document.

"We are going to offer a Toledo Pact on the security and defense of our country," said González Pons, who stressed that it is about defense policy "never being partisan or at the mercy of whoever governs in Spain."

Waiting for the first opposition party to disseminate the text of the complete document, this Tuesday it has already advanced some specific objectives that it understands must be achieved through this State pact.

In the first place, it refers to the "guarantee of protection of all national territory with particular attention to non-peninsular territories, specifically including the guarantee of security and allied protection on the southern border of the European Union".

"Whatever the southern border of the EU must be protected by NATO," said González Pons, who defended asking NATO for a "guarantee" of protection of the entire territory, especially non-peninsular territories, such as the Canary Islands or the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

Secondly, the PP proposes a "strengthening of Spanish participation in collective security schemes, particularly NATO." Thirdly, it is committed to "promoting the development of common defense within the framework of the European Union in complementarity with NATO".

On this point, the PP supports the "creation of a European military force, guaranteeing the strategic autonomy of the EU and thus contributing to transatlantic and world security as a complement to NATO".

In addition, the PP is committed to "modernizing the capabilities of the Armed Forces, improving the field of military education and training, and promoting the professional military career, putting it in value before society." It also defends "digitalizing the Armies and the constitution of a specific field on cyberspace".

In the fifth point of its objectives, the PP speaks of "the guarantee of adequate financing of national defense with a law that guarantees economic sufficiency and stability, as well as the dedication of 20% of spending to investment programs in equipment and I D i".

In recent weeks, as a result of the war in Ukraine, the chief executive, Pedro Sánchez, has defended on several occasions an increase in defense spending in the face of the threats that arise. His intention is to reach 2% of the GDP according to the commitments with NATO, an extreme in which the 'popular' have publicly expressed their support.

The PP offers the Government of PSOE and Podemos and the rest of the political forces of the parliamentary arch this "cooperation agreement in defense matters, understood as State policy" in order to guarantee, according to the 'popular', "the protection and the security of Spain in the face of the risks and threats that affect it, both individually and within the framework of collective security".

"The general objective is to guarantee the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country, reaffirming our international commitments as a responsible and reliable member of the United Nations, the Atlantic Alliance and the European Union," party sources have pointed out.

González Pons expressed his wish on Monday that this agreement between the groups be finalized before the NATO Summit to be held in Madrid at the end of the month to "send the message to the world that Spain is a reliable partner". "We don't have a deadline, but it would be good and sensible for the prestige of Spain if we could offer that image of a country that has agreed on its national defense," he declared at a press conference.