The Diplomat
The Ministry of Defence has ruled out changing its strategy in relation to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla after learning of the rearmament that Morocco is carrying out with the purchase of military material from Turkey, reports Europa Press. The government recalls that Spain is not alone and that its defence policy is part of the EU and NATO.
According to recent reports, Rabat is negotiating with Turkey the purchase of 22 attack helicopters worth 1.3 billion euros, as well as 12 drones to monitor the borders of Ceuta and Melilla. Previously, a report entitled ‘Morocco, the Strait of Gibraltar and the military threat to Spain’ by the Institute for Security and Culture warned of Morocco’s ambitious arms programme in recent years, which includes the acquisition of military equipment worth more than 20 billion dollars.
However, the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, considers this to be an “internal Moroccan matter”. When asked by Europa Press whether she plans to change the defence strategy in Ceuta and Melilla in view of the rearmament being carried out by Morocco, she assures that she has the utmost respect for the neighbouring country. However, she points out that there is no doubt about the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla, which she says are as Spanish as any other city in Spain. “I feel very Ceutí and Melillense”, she exclaims.
In any case, Robles insists that Spanish defence policy falls within the scope of the European Union and NATO, and carries out missions with blue helmets and the United Nations, while “Morocco belongs neither to the EU nor to NATO”.
Spain, the Minister of Defence stressed, “is not a country that is alone in defence policies; it is a country that contributes to defence policies within the framework of the EU and NATO”.
The minister also refers to the NATO Summit at which the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, had a brief meeting with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and says that, although the cameras only recorded 29 seconds, she was an “eyewitness” to the whole of the meeting and the Atlantic Alliance meeting, which lasted several hours.
In her opinion, in Spain there is sometimes a lack of “generosity” in recognising the positive, and important issues such as the fact that the NATO Summit will be held in Spain next year are not valued. This, she says, is a “recognition by all countries” of the role that Spain has played in the Atlantic Alliance for 40 years.
In this respect, she points out that “the best thing about the summit are deeds and not words” since, she insists, “all the countries without exception celebrated and welcomed” the fact that the next summit will be held in Madrid.
It is, she adds, recognition that Spain is a serious and reliable country internationally and with an “important projection”. He also said that a few days ago he visited a navy ship in Rota with the US Secretary of Defence and stressed that “relations are magnificent”.
