Spain: Nuclear rearmament a ‘historic error’

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that expanding nuclear arsenals represents a dangerous shift away from decades of arms control efforts, describing the trend as a “historical error.”

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Sanchez voiced concern that major powers are abandoning hard-won agreements that once placed limits on strategic weapons.

By expanding their arsenals once again, the nuclear powers are forgetting “lessons of the past,” Spain’s prime minister warned, calling this a “historical error.”

Call for a new START treaty
Sanchez urged nuclear-armed states to negotiate and sign a new START treaty after the previous agreement expired on February 5, leaving the US and Russia’s strategic arsenals without binding restraints.

“Treaties were signed and nuclear arsenals were dramatically reduced, but now the tide is turning,” he warned.

Sanchez called on nuclear nations to “stop nuclear rearmament, sit down, negotiate and sign a new START treaty” to ensure continuity of the one that just expired.
Defense and deterrence
While acknowledging rising global instability, Sanchez stressed that strengthening defense capabilities should not equate to expanding nuclear stockpiles.

“The world is becoming more unstable, and we Europeans must strengthen our defense capabilities,” said Sanchez.

He argued, however, that nuclear rearmament is not the right way to ensure sovereignty, territorial integrity, or security.

Sanchez added: “Nuclear powers have forgotten the lessons of the past, and they are expanding their nuclear arsenals once again.”
Rising nuclear spending
Sanchez highlighted the scale of current military expenditures, saying that together, the nuclear powers are spending more than $11 million every single hour on their arsenals. He cited experts suggesting that the US alone will invest $946 billion in nuclear weapons over the next decade, a sum big “enough to eradicate extreme global poverty.”

“In my view, this is a mistake, a historical error that we cannot commit again, particularly not today, with artificial intelligence casting a shadow of uncertainty over the entire world.”

Addressing the war in Ukraine, Sanchez raised fears of Russia’s strength, saying, “We need to stop (President Vladimir) Putin, we need to strengthen our deterrence capabilities, but let us do it in a coordinated and targeted way that we can control.”