Eduardo González
The Pentagon may be considering suspending Spain from NATO due to its stance on the Iran conflict, according to an email from the U.S. Department of Defense. In response, sources within the Alliance have warned that the Treaty does not contemplate such a possibility, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has expressed his “absolute calm” because the government “doesn’t work based on emails, it works based on official documents.”
According to an anonymous official source who spoke to Reuters, the Pentagon outlined several retaliatory measures against allies that have not supported the United States in an internal email, including the possible suspension of Spain’s NATO membership for, among other things, not allowing the use of its bases and airspace for U.S. operations in Iran.
Regarding this, a source within the Alliance told the Europa Press news agency on Friday that “the NATO Founding Treaty contains no provision relating to the suspension of NATO membership, expulsion, or limited participation.” The only way for a state to cease belonging to the Alliance is by doing so voluntarily, as stipulated in Article 13 of the Washington Treaty.
Speaking to the media from Cyprus, on the occasion of the informal summit of European Union leaders, Pedro Sánchez was emphatic: “We don’t work based on emails; we work based on official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the United States government.”
“The position of the Spanish government is clear: absolute cooperation with the allies, but always within the framework of international law,” he insisted, in response to the accusations from the United States.
According to Sánchez, Spain is assuming its responsibilities “as good NATO allies.” “We have military forces deployed in Eastern Europe to defend our territorial integrity against the Russian threat, and of course, we are supporting Ukraine and also using NATO instruments to finance Ukraine’s purchase of weapons and military capabilities,” he continued.
“We had this debate last year, precisely regarding the five percent” defense spending target adopted at the last NATO summit, which Sánchez rejected. “Spain stated that the capabilities NATO was asking for could be achieved with 2.1 percent of our GDP, and that is what we have done,” he asserted. “This year, for the first time since 2014, when this agreement was signed with a previous administration at the NATO summit in Wales, we have managed to reach that 2.1 percent,” he added.
“Therefore, from our point of view, there is no debate: we are fulfilling our obligations, we are a loyal partner, we are committed, deployed in many of these areas requested by the countries themselves, and therefore, there is absolute peace of mind,” he concluded.