Spain is the 22nd country that donates arms to Ukraine, but rises to 15th in humanitarian aid

Instruction of Ukrainian soldiers with a Leopard tank at the National Training Center of Zaragoza.EMAD

The controversy over the shipment of Leopard tanks has brought to the fore the supply of weapons to Ukraine just one year after the Russian invasion.

However, Spain stands out more for its humanitarian aid to the victims of the conflict than for its military support for the Government of Volodímir Zelenski, according to the Institute for the World Economy (IFW) in Kiel.

This German study center, which keeps an updated record of international cooperation with Ukraine, places Spain in 22nd place in a list of 40 countries (all those from the EU and the G-7, as well as Australia, South Korea , China or India) ranked based on their military support for Kiev, but advances it to 15th among those who provide humanitarian assistance to its population.

If only the 30 NATO allies are counted, Spain is 19th in military aid and 12th in humanitarian aid.

The United States is the undisputed champion of military cooperation (44,338 million euros), to the point that it amounts to almost 10 times more than the second (United Kingdom, with 4,886).

Washington is also the leading donor of humanitarian aid (3,724 million), but among the top five there are two countries, Austria and Japan, that hardly provide defense cooperation.

From the analysis of the data, it can be deduced that the Eastern European allies see Russia as a threat and turn to supporting the war, while the countries furthest away from the conflict emphasize solidarity with the population.

Germany has allocated almost the same money (some 2,400 million) to military and humanitarian aid, while Spain and Portugal are among the few NATO countries that have given more funds for the latter than for the former.

According to the German

, Spain has dropped from 17th to 22nd place in arms supply since last July, but the data is incomplete, as it only includes commitments made up to January 15, before the so-called "coalition of the Leopards”, the group of countries willing to supply the Kiev government with the German-made battle tank, of which Spain will deliver 10 units.

Although the cost of the operation is not known, Defense has awarded the reconstruction contract for the first six —belonging to a batch of 53 second-hand tanks that had been stored for 10 years in a base in Zaragoza— for 4.1 million.

In addition, after the United States and the United Kingdom, the third largest arms donor for Ukraine is the European Union, which has already committed 3,100 million from a fund expanded to 3,600.

This budget is nourished by the contributions of the countries and Spain is responsible for paying almost 10% of the total.

Until now, it was intended to subsidize the deliveries made bilaterally by the Member States

, as long as they adhered to the products requested by Ukraine under allied coordination, but given the shortage of ammunition and the increase in prices, the European Commission plans to make joint purchases. , as was done with vaccines.

If financial commitments are included, Spain ranks 17th, with a total of 387 million, but if the economic weight of each country is taken into account, the most generous is Estonia, which dedicates 1,071% to Ukraine. of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The other two Baltic republics and Poland spend more than 0.5% of their GDP on the neighboring country's war, while Spain stands at 0.032%.

It is the same percentage of Orbán's Hungary, the government closest to Putin in the EU and the only one of the European allies that does not arm Kiev.

All in all, the most important military support that Spain is providing to Ukraine is the training of its military.

Currently, there are more than 500 Ukrainian soldiers following training courses at different military installations throughout Spain, under the command of the Toledo Training Coordination Center (TTCC), part of the European military assistance mission to Ukraine (EUMAM UA).

On February 16, 125 Ukrainian soldiers arrived, of whom 70 joined the Toledo Infantry Academy and another 55 at the San Gregorio National Training Center (Zaragoza), to train as crew members and mechanics of Leopard tanks.

This Thursday more than a hundred arrived -Defense did not provide the exact figure- at the Rota naval base (Cádiz), to be instructed in the Tercio de Infantería de Marina de San Fernando and the El Retín shooting range.

The Legion Brigade and the Airborne Brigade will give combat training;

while the No. 1 Engineer Regiment, from Castrillo del Val (Burgos) will train sappers;

and the 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment, from Seville, to operators of the Hawk missile batteries.

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