The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, demanded yesterday before her NATO counterparts that the Alliance’s mission in Afghanistan be concluded “in a responsible way” in order to preserve “the important advances” in human rights, education, promotion of women, and security and children’s rights.
Robles participated this week in the first meeting of NATO defense ministers of 2021, in which the future of the mission in Afghanistan and the process of reflection on the Atlantic Alliance itself, called NATO 2030, were discussed. The meeting was held by videoconference due to mobility restrictions caused by COVID-19.
Regarding the mission in Afghanistan, the ministers did not take any final decision and agreed to leave all options open, including the possibility of remaining in the Resolute Support mission beyond May 1 if the conditions for the implementation of the peace agreement and the peace process in general make it advisable to do so. The Allies also pledged to consult with each other to jointly reach a decision on the future of this mission, the Ministry of Defense said.
During her speech yesterday, the minister warned of the need to “agree on a responsible way to conclude the mission that will allow the peace process to preserve the important gains of Afghan society in human rights, education, women’s welfare and social advancement, and security and children’s rights”.
“An effort for additional time, in safety and security, and a mission completion process based on assurances, is the best tribute we can offer to the Afghan people, and to the effort and perseverance of many thousands of our military who gave everything for that country, including their lives”, she continued. “Holding out a little and insisting on an effective advancement of the peace process can make the difference for the Afghans to consolidate their democratic advancement and pay tribute to the effort, so long, even giving the lives of our soldiers, always within the scope of the decision jointly taken by the Alliance”, she added.
With regard to the process of reflection on the future of the Atlantic Alliance, the Minister warned that the current challenges are of such complexity that “they cannot be tackled unilaterally” and require “common responses, which implies a permanent effort for consensus and multilateralism”, and concluded her speech by calling for a stronger and more sustainable Alliance, more prepared for any security challenge and more resilient to catastrophes such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
