The Diplomat
The Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, yesterday visited NATO’s Rapid Deployment Headquarters in the Valencian town of Bétera, where officers from 13 nations are integrated under the command of Lieutenant General Luis Saéz Rocandio, and held a videoconference with the contingent of this unit deployed in Slovakia.
Minister Robles, who travelled accompanied by the Army General Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army, Amador Enseñat, valued ‘Spain’s commitment to the North Atlantic Alliance, to peace and deterrence in the world, at a complicated and difficult time such as the one we are experiencing in the war in Ukraine’, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Defence.
‘I have to say with great satisfaction that the work that Spain carries out within NATO in all missions is essential and very important,’ said Robles, who also valued the international recognition of the Spanish military deployed on missions, recalling that they are held in “very high esteem” for being a professional and effective army.
The Spanish military in Slovakia,’ she said after the videoconference, ’have very high morale and are fully aware that their work is essential for peace. As is, she added, ‘this NATO High Readiness Ground Headquarters (HQHQ) in Bétera, and the Valencian Community’.
As part of NATO’s deterrence and defence effort on the Eastern flank, the Rapid Deployment CG, which has the capability to lead a set of large units in high-intensity combat operations, has been designated as IV WFC (Warfighting Corps) for time of crisis/conflict and is currently developing tactical planning in the areas of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Since March, 16 military personnel from the barracks have been permanently deployed to the Kuchyna base in Slovakia, to facilitate liaison with national authorities and keep the national chain of command informed.
The addition of three officers from Slovakia in July brought the number of nations participating in the headquarters to 13: Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, the United States and Spain.
The Rapid Deployment Headquarters is the multinational part of NATO’s High Readiness Ground Headquarters (HQHQ), which Spain has at the ‘Jaime I’ Military Base in Bétera, and whose chief is also General Rocandio.
