The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, participated yesterday in Brussels in the NATO ministerial meeting, which addressed the situation in Ukraine and the priorities of the next Atlantic Alliance Summit, to be held later this month in Madrid.
The meeting, which began on Wednesday and concluded today, was convened by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and focused on Ukraine and the new Strategic Concept to be adopted at the upcoming Madrid Summit on June 29-30, a Summit that Stoltenberg said will come at a “crucial” time and “will be transformative.”
Together with the defense ministers of Ukraine, Georgia, Sweden and Finland, the allies analyzed the situation in Ukraine after almost four months of war and the international response to the aggression of Vladimir Putin’s regime. In this regard, Robles highlighted during her speech “the unity and solidarity demonstrated by NATO countries”, which is “proof of our commitment to peace and international order”, and stressed the importance of the application of Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance in the current context of the development of the new security and defense architecture in Europe following the invasion of Ukraine.
The highlight of Wednesday – apart from the opening press conference, at which Jens Stoltenberg announced that Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski will participate in the NATO Summit in Madrid “in person or by videoconference” – was the meeting of the Ukrainian Self-Defense Contact Group, an initiative of the United States formed by more than forty countries, including Spain, to coordinate the support provided to Ukraine, and which is similar to that launched by the European Union to effectively channel and coordinate international aid.
In relation to the new Strategic Concept, yesterday the ministers analyzed the proposals to strengthen NATO’s Deterrence and Defense Posture and the resources necessary for the Alliance to continue to successfully fulfill its missions in the coming years. In this regard, Robles assured that Spain will continue to support NATO’s deterrence and defense to contemplate the risks and threats in all 360 degrees, with special attention to the southern flank and also covering space and cyberspace.
In the margins of the meeting, Robles held a meeting with the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, in which both discussed the preparation of the Madrid Summit and in which the U.S. representative thanked the Minister for “Spain’s solidarity and broad support for Ukraine”, as well as Spain’s response and commitment to NATO on the eastern flank, according to the Ministry of Defense in its press release.
The minister held another bilateral meeting with her Canadian counterpart, Anita Anand, to exchange views on the upcoming Madrid Summit and on the common participation in NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia. Canada -which is in command- and Spain are the two main contributors to the international reinforced battalion deployed in that Baltic country.
Robles also had the opportunity to have a brief exchange with Polish Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, with whom she discussed various issues related to both NATO and European Union membership and whom she thanked for his collaboration in the distribution of aid sent by Spain to Ukraine. Finally, the Minister greeted in person the new French Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, with whom she had already spoken by telephone a few days ago.
