The Diplomat
The NATO Heads of State or Government adopted yesterday the long-awaited Madrid Strategic Concept, which includes for the first time an express mention of its Southern Flank, as Spain had repeatedly requested, and reaffirms the Alliance’s commitment to “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Allies”, which, in Moncloa’s opinion, guarantees the protection of Ceuta and Melilla without the need to mention them expressly.
During his speech at the first session of the NATO Summit, which began yesterday at the IFEMA site in Madrid, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, pointed out Spain’s “commitment” to strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense posture on the Eastern Flank, a priority that “does not compete with the need to have a 360-degree security approach” oriented towards the Southern Flank, since, he warned, the threats coming from the South are, increasingly, “Russian threats”.
Precisely, the Strategic Concept mentions for the first time the “Southern Flank.” Specifically, the new document warns that “NATO’s southern neighborhood, in particular the Middle East, North Africa and Sahel regions, faces interconnected security, demographic, economic and political challenges,” challenges that “are compounded by the impact of climate change, fragile institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity.” “This situation provides fertile ground for the proliferation of non-state armed groups, including terrorist organizations, and also allows for destabilizing and coercive interference by strategic competitors,” it adds.
The need to attend to the Southern Flank has been one of the most recurrent claims of the Spanish Government in view of the Summit. In a Tribune published last Monday by The Diplomat, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, insisted that “the Southern Flank must be reflected in the Madrid Strategic Concept and in the Summit”. “Spain is already making important efforts in the southern neighborhood, as shown by our participation in the EUTM Mali or our presidency of the Sahel Alliance in support of the G5, but it is important to reinforce NATO’s commitment in a region from where different threats are looming,” added the minister. At the end of the first day of the Summit, Albares participated in a working dinner of foreign ministers, attended by representatives of two NATO partner countries, Jordan and Mauritania, to discuss the Alliance’s new approach in its southern neighborhood.
Speaking to the press at the end of the first day of the Summit, Albares welcomed the mention of the Southern Flank in the Strategic Concept and the inclusion, “as Spain has been requesting”, of cyber-attacks, terrorism, the “unacceptable political use of irregular migratory movements” and the “unacceptable political use as a weapon of energy flows to strike at our sovereignty and territorial integrity” among the threats coming from the South. However, he assured that the reference to the Southern Flank is not against “anyone”, in response to a question on the crisis between Turkey and Greece and on the involvement of Morocco in the massive entry of 10,000 migrants in Ceuta as a means to put pressure on Spain.
Apart from that, the Strategic Concept – a document that will guide the future of the organization and replaces the current one of 2010 – also states that, “although NATO is a defensive Alliance, no one should doubt our strength and determination to defend every inch of Allied territory, preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Allies and prevail against any aggressor.” Both this phrase and the mention of the “commitment to defend each other, as enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty”, seem to satisfy another of Spain’s major objectives at this Summit: the protection of Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla thanks to NATO’s collective defense clause, regardless of whether or not the two Autonomous Cities are expressly mentioned in the Alliance’s official documents.
Last Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared during a press conference in Brussels prior to the Madrid Summit that “Article Six of the Washington Treaty defines the geographic scope of application of our collective defense guarantee, Article Five”, which includes “the territory of either party in Europe and North America or the islands under the jurisdiction of either party in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer”. According to these words, Ceuta and Melilla (as well as Hawaii or the Falklands) would be excluded from this protection because they are located in African territory, while the Canary Islands would be covered because they are an island territory located north of the Tropic of Cancer.
However, Moncloa sources assured yesterday to several media that the text approved yesterday in Madrid, with its mention to “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the Allies” against “any aggressor”, clears any doubt about the protection of Ceuta and Melilla under the umbrella of NATO’s security clause. In this regard, they recalled that the terms “sovereignty and integrity” had practically disappeared in the previous Strategic Concept of 2010, so its explicit mention in the section on Deterrence and defense introduces “a small but relevant nuance”.
Russia, Zelensky and Finland and Sweden
As for the rest of the Strategic Concept, the text points out that Russia is “the most direct and significant threat” to “Euro-Atlantic security, peace and stability”, addresses for the first time the “challenges” posed by China to “the security, interests and values defended by NATO” and sets out the Alliance’s three main tasks for this new period: deterrence and defense, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.
During yesterday’s meetings, NATO heads of state and government formally agreed to invite Finland and Sweden to join the Atlantic Alliance, a day after Turkey lifted its veto against the two countries following an intense four-hour meeting attended by Jens Stoltenberg. Next Tuesday, NATO member states will sign the protocol of accession of Sweden and Finland in Brussels, after which it will be up to each of the 30 states to ratify the accession individually.
Pedro Sánchez referred to this issue during the second session of the Summit, held in the afternoon, in which he congratulated the presidents of Turkey and Finland and the prime minister of Sweden for the agreement reached on Monday and for Stoltenberg’s support, which opens the door to the accession of “two important democracies” that “will make us stronger”. The President of the Government also held a meeting with the Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson, to whom he reiterated Spain’s support for the entry of Sweden, “a consolidated democracy whose accession to the Atlantic Alliance will contribute to strengthening the deterrence and defense capacity of the northern and eastern flanks”.
One of the most awaited moments yesterday was the intervention by videoconference of the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, who called for a “firm response to Russia’s actions”. “It is not a war of Russia only against Ukraine, it is a war for the right to dictate the conditions in Europe, for the future of the world order and that is why it is absolutely necessary to support Ukraine with weapons, policies and economic measures, such as sanctions that prevent Russia from financing the war,” said the Ukrainian leader, who expressed his desire to be able to participate as a guest at the 2023 Summit in person.
Following Zelensky’s speech, Pedro Sanchez told the Summit that the war in Ukraine is “an existential challenge for all” and stressed that the people of Ukraine have demonstrated “an impressive resolve for the values enshrined in the Washington Treaty and which define us as free societies: their struggle for democracy, individual freedom and the rule of law.” “Ukraine’s borders are today, more than ever, our borders,” he added.
