The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, held yesterday a bilateral meeting in Brussels with the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd J. Austin, on the occasion of their participation in the Atlantic Council meeting in which the foundations for the NATO Summit to be held in Madrid in 2022 were laid.
According to the Ministry, Robles discussed with her allied counterparts issues such as the progress made in the Alliance’s Deterrence and Defense capabilities and the lessons learned after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. During her speech, the minister expressed her satisfaction with the significant progress made in allied Deterrence and Defense, to which Spain “makes a decisive contribution by contributing ideas in conceptual discussions and by contributing land, naval and air forces to NATO missions and operations where they are most needed”.
With an eye on the NATO Summit, which will take place in Madrid next June, a joint meeting of Atlantic Alliance ministers was also held with the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the defense ministers of Sweden and Finland. “Spain is participating very actively in the preparatory reflection processes of the NATO Strategic Concept and the EU Strategic Compass, which will see the light of day in 2022,” assured Defense.
In addition, Robles held a bilateral meeting with Lloyd J. Austin, in which both agreed on the need to “work together” to make the Madrid Summit, “which will be strategically very important for the coming years of NATO, a success”. The Secretary of Defense valued Spain’s contribution to the joint effort and highlighted the role played by the Rota Naval Base last August in the effort to evacuate Afghanistan by the United States. “They were especially grateful that the Rota base has served as a reception center for the Afghan collaborators,” said Robles at the end of the meeting.
In their meeting, Robles and Austin also discussed the situation in the Sahel, concern about climate change and developments in Africa, “a continent to which NATO and the EU must pay special attention”. In this regard, the Secretary of Defense valued the presence of the Spanish Navy in the Gulf of Guinea. “I appreciate Spain’s steadfast commitment to global security and defense innovation”, Austin stated via his official Twitter account. “We discussed challenges along NATO’s southern flank, and welcomed future bilateral collaboration”, he added.
