Experts during the National Security Seminar./ Photo: Funciva
Julio García. Madrid
PhD in International Security and analyst for the Fundación Ciudadanía y Valores (Funciva), Francisco J. Ruiz, requested this week in Madrid a new Organic National Security Law, based on his worry about new external threats and the worsening of European security.
Ruiz made his request before a number of experts during the The new National Security System before environmental threats seminar, organised by Funciva. As he explained, the security situation in the EU countries has deteriorated since the European Council in 2013, which revised the Common Policy for Security and Defence for the 28.
The security outlook on the southern shores of the Mediterranean is a bigger challenge for Europe, in the short term, than the previous revolts of the “poorly named Arab Spring, which is closer every day to the Islamist Winter than some of us augured a few years ago, among the criticism of the pathological optimists that foresaw an irremissible coming of a liberal democracy in the Islamic worlds” he stated.
According to Ruiz it is necessary to strengthen the National Defence Council
Faced with this situation of new threats, he also proposed coordination between the National Security Council and the Foreign Policy Council, strengthen the National Defence Council and give legislative coverage to the de facto changes carried out by the Chief of the Defence Staff (EMAD in Spanish)
By doing this, he said, it would enable the country to face the different strategies and to focus their strength in priority areas in North Africa. With Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania for example, we should be encouraging bilateral cooperation in matters of defence. When it comes to the Sahel, it would be “practical” to channel national contributions through the European Union, closely coordinated with those of the regional organisations such as the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) or the African Union.
Finally, NATO’s “weak” action in these areas was a key point in the debate and the experts agreed to encourage initiatives of the Atlantic Alliance or the EU in the regions, without losing site of the fact that they will not serve to cover all National Security needs.
