The Diplomat
Spain is not among the 17 European countries launching NATO’s first innovation fund, which aims to ensure that the Alliance can rely on cutting-edge technology and not lose competitiveness. Nor is France part of the initiative, which includes Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy.
The initiative was launched on Friday in the margins of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels, during an event chaired by Secretary General Jens Stoltennberg, who indicated that the aim is to ensure that the allies do not fall behind in terms of the latest technologies and capabilities that will be “critical to our security”.
The fund, which aims to invest 1 billion euros in dual-use technologies (civilian and military), has been promoted by Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.
The Spanish government has not commented on the initiative which, at least so far, it is not part of, despite the fact that the fund, together with the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), is expected to be fully in force at the NATO Summit to be held in June 2022 in Madrid.
As part of DIANA,” Stoltenberg explained, “Allies are committed to providing a network of technology test centres and accelerator sites across the Alliance to better leverage civilian innovation for our security and strengthen the technology link between Europe and North America.
The idea of launching the innovation fund and the DIANA project emerged at the last summit of Allied leaders in Brussels last June.
Since then, several allied countries have offered to host its headquarters or the test centres that will create a network between Europe and North America.
