Eduardo González
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, assured this Wednesday in the Congress that the weapons sent by Spain to Ukraine do not have the capacity to reach Russian territory.
Robles thus responded in the Defense Commission of the Lower House to the questions of Bildu, PNV and UPN on the implications that the use, by Ukraine, of long-range American and British missiles against Russian territory could have for the conflict and for the Spanish troops on the eastern flank of NATO.
In her appearance, Robles reaffirmed Spain’s commitment to redirect the situation in Lebanon and warned of the difficult situation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), led by a Spanish general and in which there are more than 650 Spanish soldiers. “We cannot allow Lebanon to be a new Afghanistan,” she warned, in relation to the escalation of war between Israel and the Shiite militia Hezbollah.
She also gave an exhaustive review of the international missions in which the Spanish Armed Forces participate and the work carried out by the deployed personnel. “Spain is a reliable partner, committed to deterrence and defence operations and the protection of stability,” she said, who, in addition to pointing out missions with greater media coverage such as UNIFIL or the Atalanta operation in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and Somalia, highlighted the important Spanish role in the Baltic Air Police. During 2024, a total of 15,108 military personnel from the Armed Forces and Civil Guard have participated in the 17 missions abroad, of which around 1,300 were women.
Within the framework of the current deployment, the Minister of Defence admitted that “the fact that the EUTM Mali mission has not been extended is not good news”, but assured that the Government is aware “of the importance that stability in the Sahel area has for our security and well-being”.
