The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, traveled yesterday to the island of Crete (Greece) to visit the three Spanish Navy ships integrated in NATO’s Standing Naval Forces (SNFs) in the Eastern Mediterranean, which, she confirmed, will not be sent to the Black Sea in the end.
According to Robles, the situation in the Mediterranean is calm and the context of deterrence in which the Spanish ships are operating is one of “operational tension”. In any case, she said, the three Spanish ships – the maritime action ship Meteoro, the minehunter Sella and the frigate Blas de Lezo – “are not going to the Black Sea”. Last January 20, more than a month before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the minister announced that the three ships were to be sent to the Black Sea to participate in NATO’s deterrent mission. The arrivals were scheduled for mid-April, but, in the end, the Alliance itself decided to suspend these deployments to avoid any possible conflict with Russia.
“Along with the operational tension there is great confidence, great professionalism and the message that must be conveyed is one of tranquility and pride in the great work they are doing,” said the minister at the end of her visit to the three ships, anchored at the Marathi Naval Base in Souda Bay, where the Spanish Navy units integrated in the Permanent Forces are located.
“In the future they will be able to count with pride and satisfaction having served Spain, NATO and, above all, having contributed to making the world a much safer place,” the minister declared. “You are working for a just cause, for a better world, the fact that you are here is a sign of security and guarantee,” she continued.
“Hopefully this nonsense, this war, will end soon, but have no doubt that your presence here, under the NATO flag, has a very special role,” said the minister, who was accompanied by the Secretary of State, Esperanza Casteleiro, and by the commander of the Operations Command, Air Lieutenant General Francisco Braco, and was received on her arrival at the international airport of Chania by the Spanish ambassador to Greece, Carles María Casajuana, and by the military attaché in that country, Captain Juan Escrigas.
Meteoro and Sella are part of the Standing Countermine Measures Grouping Number Two (SNMCMG 2), commanded by Spanish naval captain Javier Núñez de Prado since June 22 last year (for a period of one year), while the Blas de Lezo is part of the Standing Naval Grouping Number Two (SNMG 2). Both multinational forces operate in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
