The Diplomat
The State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ángeles Moreno, assured yesterday in the Congress that Spain and the United States will start “soon” the negotiations for the renewal of the Agreement on Defense Cooperation signed in 1988 in order to allow the expansion of the American military capabilities in the base of Rota (Cádiz), agreed last June by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
Moreno made this announcement during his appearance before the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee to explain the Ministry’s budgets for 2023. According to the State Secretary, next year Foreign Affairs will have an “expansive budget, in accordance with the needs imposed by the international context in which we live”, with a total increase of 3.34% “which corresponds, to a large extent, to an increase in the allocations for international cooperation for development, which will stand in 2023 at 0.34% of the GNI”.
During her speech, Moreno assured that Spain “will continue to firmly defend a greater coordination of efforts between the European Union and NATO” and progress towards “a Europe with a common defense system” after the “Russian aggression against Ukraine”. “Unfortunately, we have to talk a lot about defense,” she lamented. “This is the international situation we find ourselves in. Security has become very difficult for us, but believe me, I would like to talk more about support for irrigation and water and sanitation,” she added.
In these circumstances, the State Secretary assured that the Governments of Spain and the United States will “soon” begin negotiations for the “amendment to the 1988 Agreement” in order to specify the “precise terms” of the expansion of US capabilities in Rota, as was established in the joint declaration signed by Pedro Sánchez and Joe Biden in La Moncloa at the end of June, in which both leaders committed themselves to increase the number of US warships at the base from four to six. “The density of the bilateral defense relationship is unquestionable” and this declaration “strengthens our bond and adapts our alliance to the international geopolitical panorama,” said Moreno Bau.
On the other hand, Moreno Bau announced before the Commission that the Ministry intends to “reinforce the staff” of the consulates that will be “foreseeably” more affected by the “avalanches” of applications for Spanish nationality in countries such as Argentina, Mexico and Cuba as a consequence of the upcoming entry into force of the Law of Democratic Memory.
