US President Donald Trump. Foto: Shutterstock
“They have great people, but they don’t have great leadership. And as you know, they were the only country in NATO that didn’t agree to an increase to 5%. They wanted to leave everything at 2%, and they’re not paying that 2%, so we’re going to stop all trade with Spain,” Trump said in a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House, according to Radio Liberty.
Trump also added that the U.S. could use Spanish bases without Madrid’s consent if it wanted to.
Merz, for his part, said that Berlin and Washington “share the same point of view on overthrowing this terrible regime in Iran.”
“We are trying to convince Spain to respect the 5% defense spending target. We need to look at strategy after the fall of the Iranian regime. This is extremely important for Europe and Israel,” the Chancellor emphasized.
Spain and the US share bases in Moron and Rota in the south of the country, but Madrid has previously said they would not be used for strikes against Iran. U.S. airpower has since been moved to Germany.
Spanish authorities responded to Trump’s statements by calling on Washington to respect international law and trade agreements with the EU and emphasized that they are prepared for possible economic consequences. Madrid claims that it has the necessary resources to mitigate the possible consequences of the US trade embargo.
Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihail Popşoi on 2 March strongly condemned Iran’s attacks on several states in the Middle East and called for restraint to prevent further destabilization of the region.
“The Republic of Moldova strongly condemns Iran’s attacks on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states in the Middle East: the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. We call for restraint to avoid further destabilization of the region,” Mihail Popşoi said.
