Spain occupies the 19th place in the list of European countries that are helping Ukraine militarily. According to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the government of Pedro Sánchez would have delivered war material aid to Kyiv worth 80 million euros from the start of the invasion until last January.
Without taking into account the United States, which is by far the donor country that is contributing the most to the Ukrainian war effort, strictly in the European concert, it is the United Kingdom that is making the largest contribution.
Spain is located in a very discreet 19th place, as we say, behind much smaller countries such as Bulgaria or the Czech Republic, and is at the bottom of the group of the largest such as Germany, France, Italy or Sweden and a great distance from Poland, which is, after Great Britain, the European country that is delivering the most military resources to Ukraine.
It is fair to say that countries such as the Baltic republics or Bulgaria, the Czech Republic or Poland feel the Russian threat much closer – even before the invasion of Ukraine – and are providing millions of euros in aid above what might be expected attending to their national accounts; to its GDP and its population. All these countries provide more military aid than Spain.
If we look at the overall aid that Spain delivers to the Kiyv government, that is, accounting for humanitarian, financial and also military aid, it rises in this ranking of European donors to 14th place, with 390 million euros corresponding to the whole of cooperation.
Neighboring Portugal, for example, has contributed more, reaching 460 million euros. The margins widen much more if the numbers of Spain are compared with the contributions of Italy (1,000 million) or France (1,600 million).
Thus, although the central government, and especially President Pedro Sánchez himself, has championed the Spanish will to contribute to the effort of the Ukrainian troops on the front and to try to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population, the economic effort is not at the height of the largest countries on the continent.
Recently, the Gabinet d’Estudis Socials i Opinió Pública (Gesop) published a poll according to which 60% of Spaniards agree with the shipment of arms to the Government of Volodomir Zelenski. On the contrary, those who are against it represent 30% of the population. However, Spain has invested in military aid exactly the same as Luxembourg or almost the same as Slovenia.
“We could say that in terms of defense, Spain is stretching its scarce resources –says Professor Luis V. Pérez Gil, from the University of La Laguna, an expert in conflict theory-, since those who have little can give little. Unfortunately, in the current world concert, Spain is insignificant”.
In addition, in Spain direct military aid to Ukraine is a destabilizing factor for the ruling coalition cabinet. The group of ministers from Unidas Podemos feels very uncomfortable, and has even declared itself openly against it, when, for example, arms are sent to Ukraine.
This could partly explain the secrecy with which the Ministry of Defense – in the hands of the socialist sector of the Government – ??treats everything that has to do with the war support for Ukraine. Although officially said opacity, the fact of not giving details about what weapons are sent or their quantity, is attributed to security reasons, there are numerous voices that indicate that it responds to an attempt not to bother Podemos partners.
Despite the Government’s willingness to maintain a high degree of discretion regarding the war material sent to Ukraine, the composition of some items has indeed emerged, especially those that occurred during the first months of the war.
Various ammunition and light machine guns make up a good part of these shipments, but more than a thousand C90 grenade launchers, for example, as well as some Hawk and Aspide anti-aircraft systems have also been delivered. Some light vehicles and fuel have also been delivered which, although not clearly weapons, are essential for the use of wheeled equipment.
At the gates of winter, extreme cold clothing, helmets and protective vests were also sent to Ukraine.
However, it has been the debate – common throughout the continent – about the possible shipment of armored cars that has aroused the most attention. Finally, and in parallel with other countries that also resisted it, such as Germany, Spain decided to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Initially, they had to be six, but it was Pedro Sánchez himself during a trip to Kyiv who revealed that this number could rise to 10 or 12.
In addition, the Army is conducting Leopard driving courses for Ukrainian military personnel posted to Zaragoza and who will make up the future crews of the armored car in the theater of war.
