The Diplomat
Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced yesterday the deployment of new Spanish troops to reinforce the current contingents on the borders with Russia, an operation that will not require Parliamentary approval.
“NATO’s position is to reinforce the border of allied countries and Spain will be there, without any doubt,” Robles declared during her visit to Lebanon to attend the handover of the command of the United Nations Interim Force Mission (UNIFIL) to Spanish General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz. Spain is “firmly committed and, in order to preserve peace, in agreement with our allies”, will take “the necessary border reinforcement measures”. “At recent dates you will have some news,” she added, without further details.
“We must protect the borders of all NATO countries and demonstrate to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that we do not accept any kind of threats, neither nuclear threats nor threats to surrounding countries will be able to overcome the unity of the European Union and NATO,” warned Robles, who referred to the NATO Military Committee meeting (composed of the Chiefs of Staff of the 30 allied countries) held yesterday for any details on the reinforcement of the borders on the eastern flank.
According to the newspaper El País, Spain could reinforce its presence in the multinational battalion in Latvia, where it currently has a contingent of 350 military personnel, in addition to six Leopard tanks and 15 Pizarro armored vehicles. Spain already has about 800 permanent troops on NATO’s eastern flank, with three ships in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea, fighters in Bulgaria and troops and armored vehicles in Latvia. In addition, another air detachment of fighter planes will be deployed in April in Siauliai (Lithuania) as part of the Baltic Air Police.
As this is a reinforcement of the contingents already deployed in Eastern Europe, Robles pointed out, the authorization of the Congress of Deputies is not necessary, because these deployments have already been previously authorized by the Parliament. On the other hand, congressional approval would be required for the possible deployment of a battalion of the Guadarrama XII Brigade from Madrid within the framework of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Force (VJTF) in the east. However, she said, “we are not in that scenario at the moment” and, for the time being, only the Spanish contingents already deployed as a deterrent force will be “reinforced”.
Spain will not send arms to Ukraine
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has ruled out sending arms to Ukraine for now, as many of the EU’s partners have done, arguing that Spain is already contributing through the European Peace Fund, which will allocate 450 million euros for this purpose.
In an interview on TVE, he stressed that Spain has already contributed humanitarian aid and protective equipment such as helmets and bulletproof vests.
Sánchez indicated that Spanish aid will be provided through the financial aid mechanism approved the day before by the EU, which he described as “unprecedented” and stressed that Spain is the “fourth largest donor” to this fund.
The President of the Government avoided answering whether the refusal to support Kiev with arms is due to the different sensitivities regarding this conflict within the Executive expressed by Podemos and Izquierda Unida.
Sánchez also ruled out increasing the defence budget, as Germany has announced it will do.
Criticism from Podemos
Although members of the United Podemos government, such as the vice-president Yolanda Díaz and the Minister for Social Rights, Ione Belarra, have been cautious in their statements, other leaders of the coalition have openly criticised the European Union’s decision to send lethal weapons to Ukraine.
Thus, the state co-spokesman for the purple party, Javier Sánchez Serna, pointed out that the measure adopted by the EU-27 “does not go in the direction of détente” and called for efforts to be focused on “channelling” the conflict through diplomatic means, given the channels of dialogue open between the two countries.
He also questioned the possible veto of the Russian media, believing that it could generate a “dangerous spiral” and affect foreign correspondents in Moscow, as well as a greater reflection on the impact of economic sanctions, given that they should be focused on Russian oligarchs and not on the population.
In similar terms, Izquierda Unida’s federal spokeswoman Sira Rego, who also reproached the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, for his criticism of political parties that speak out against NATO.
