The Diplomat
The leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will offer the government of Pedro Sánchez and the other political parties a Defence Pact in which he will ask NATO for a “guarantee” of protection for the entire territory, especially for non-peninsular territories, such as the Canary Islands or the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
This was announced by the PP’s Deputy Secretary for Institutional Affairs, Esteban González Pons, who explained that this week -just a fortnight before the NATO Summit in Madrid- the PP will send a document to the other parliamentary groups in which it will propose that Defence policy “should never be partisan or at the whim of whoever is governing Spain”, reports Europa Press.
“We are going to offer a Toledo Pact on the security and defence of our country”, said González Pons, who said that it is a question of this policy “not depending on the partners that one party or another may have in the Spanish government”.
The PP MEP said that, within the framework of this pact, the PP will ask NATO for a political declaration that “guarantees the protection of the entire national territory, in particular the non-peninsular territories”.
The idea, he continued, is that this declaration -which should be signed at the same time as the new strategic concept- should recognise that “NATO protects the territorial integrity of all states and that this new strategic concept should take into account the EU’s southern border”. “Whatever is the southern border of the European Union must be protected by NATO”, he said.
He will also propose that NATO should examine the collaboration that already exists in Asia-Pacific and that it should explore Latin America and, in particular, the Euro-Mediterranean area in order to strengthen relations with the countries of North Africa.
According to González Pons, NATO should strengthen its collaboration with the countries of North Africa, and it should be Spain that “urges” the Atlantic Alliance to “reinforce the collaboration that is maintained with the countries of North Africa”.
González Pons also called for a “larger” NATO and reminded the audience that it is not only a military pact but also “a political pact”, insofar as the Atlantic Alliance “does not defend countries but political principles such as democracy, the division of powers, fundamental rights and public freedoms”.
The PP leader argued that this agreement between the groups should be finalised before the NATO summit to be held in Madrid in order to “send a message to the world that Spain is a reliable partner”. “We do not have a deadline, but it would be good and sensible for Spain’s prestige if we could offer this image of a country that has agreed on its national defence”, he added.
González Pons indicated that the document with this defence and security pact “is almost finished” and announced that the PP will make it public when it is sent to the Government and the other political forces this week.
Finally, the PP’s head of Institutional Affairs pointed out that the PP supports both Sweden and Finland “joining” NATO at the Madrid Summit, “overcoming the Turkish veto”.
