Press conference by President of the Government following NATO Summit

President of the Government.- Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon to you all and thank you very much for attending.

I appear before all of you to briefly explain the results of this summit, together with other aspects relating to Spain's participation as a member of NATO.

All the allies agreed on the special importance of this summit, both due to the points on the agenda and to the complex international situation that requires renewed attention to issues of security and defence. For that reason, we have reaffirmed our desire and determination to tackle threats in a coordinated and effective manner, as indeed allies do.

During the summit, we reviewed the situations in Afghanistan and Ukraine; the new challenges, particularly the threats on the southern flank, something that Spain emphasised in all its interventions; as to how NATO should tackle them, together with the transatlantic bond, which is the cornerstone and fundamental aspect of our alliance.

For the last 12 years Spain has been on the ground in Afghanistan, together with our partners and allies, in an endeavour to ensure it is no longer used as a safe haven for terrorists and to make it a safer place. This has been a long operation plagued with difficulties, but in which the different countries taking part have shown their determination to tackle international terrorism and global threats in a coordinated manner.

Yesterday, we paid tribute to the memory of our soldiers who have laid down their lives in this conflict. Their sacrifice has not been in vain. Our security, our way of life and the values we defend are better protected as a result of this operation.

We now need to look to the future. We must transform our mission whilst continuing to support the Afghan armed forces so that they can fully assume responsibility for their own security. The political and security situation in Afghanistan still presents difficulties, but we have no doubts that the Afghan citizens and their leaders will be up to the task.

As regards the crisis in Ukraine, I would like to remind you of Spain's position, which is based on full respect for the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of Ukraine. A military solution does not exist; the only possible solution is political. For that reason, we positively view the ceasefire reached last Wednesday. It is an important first step, which we hope will be consolidated and thus allow the necessary steps to be taken towards finding a definitive resolution to the conflict. This was expressed by President Poroshenko, to whom I have expressed my support in the defence of the territorial integrity of his country, but also my conviction that we must do everything possible to consolidate this ceasefire and seek a political solution to the current crisis with determination.

Furthermore, we have reiterated our commitment and support for those allied countries which, as a result of the instability in Ukraine, have become concerned about their own security in the short and medium term. We have also supported the Readiness Action Plan, which will establish a new rapid response force able to deploy in just a few days, as and when necessary.

We also spoke about the new challenges to our security and how to respond to them. NATO has demonstrated its effectiveness as a military organisation, but we also need to adapt to the changes taking place around us.

We are aware of the gravity of the situation in Ukraine, but at the same time we cannot remain indifferent to the extremist violence in the Middle East, the break-up of the State authority in Libya or the serious terrorist threats in the Sahel; a southern flank whose instability has direct consequences for the security of all the allies and which is of particular interest for our country.

NATO is attentive to all crisis situations, wherever they may arise, and analyses and assesses the new threats, reducing the response times of our forces and developing new procedures and capabilities. To that end, we have approved an action plan that both deals with our eastern flank and our southern flank, which is patently clear from the content of our discussions and in the documents approved at this summit. More east does not mean less south and that is very important for Spain.

As you would expect, we also spoke at length and in depth about the current situations in Iraq and Syria, which could spill over from their current boundaries and extend the regional conflict with very serious consequences for the security of all concerned. To that end, we took advantage of this summit to share our analysis and the possible options available.

Relations between NATO and Russia are currently going through a tense period. However, we hope that conditions are re-established to take up dialogue once again and continue developing our relations.

We also renewed the ties that link us - and our desire to continue contributing to common security - to prosperity and to the values of coexistence; in short, the transatlantic tie that forms the very basis of the stability that NATO has provided us with since its very beginnings.

I also had the opportunity to recall the contributions the Spanish armed forces are making in the various conflict zones and in NATO, European Union and United Nations operations. Spain will continue to meet its international responsibilities, because they all affect the security of our country and of our partners.

And we have spoken about our partners, about those countries which, without being members of NATO, cooperate with us to the benefit of common security. The experience in Afghanistan and in other operations show that security is indivisible, and for that reason, NATO appreciates the cooperation of partner countries from any part of the globe that wish to contribute to this security. The ISAF operation, the longest and largest operation ever carried out by NATO, has enabled us to reach high levels of integration with many of these countries and we want to continue maintaining this level of effectiveness in the future.

It is also important to support those partners that need our help, so that they can develop sound and organised defence institutions. And it is important to continue developing these associations upon the twentieth anniversary of the Mediterranean Dialogue, which in its day Spain helped promote.

I believe that we can feel satisfied with this NATO Summit.

Thank you very much, I will now take your questions.

Q.- I wanted to ask you about this summit and some of the meetings that have taken place on the sidelines of this summit. I wanted to know why Spain was not at the meeting this morning between the United States and nine other partners to tackle the issues of Iraq and Syria, the issue of the Islamic State, and to create a coalition. Spain is not part of this coalition. Do you not intend to form part of this coalition?

I also wanted to ask you why Spain, in contrast to other countries - and perhaps this is related to my last question - has not taken the decision to send arms to the Kurdish authorities in Iraq. Why hasn't Spain adopted the same attitude as Germany, France and Italy?

Finally, if you will allow me, I think we still haven't seen the final document from the summit. We don't know whether the 2% target of the defence budget has been included, and if so, under what terms and conditions. At any event, is Spain comfortable with this objective or not, taking into account that the current Spanish defence budget is a long way off this target?

President of the Government.- Thank you very much for your questions. There are three of them and I will start by answering the last one.

In principle, what was agreed, and Spain is comfortable with what was agreed because, if not, obviously it would not have given our approval and support, is not to reduce the defence budget -you are quite right, Spain is a long way off - in the coming year. Secondly, to the extent that economic recovery takes place in different countries, to try to increase these defence budgets. And, finally, a tentative deadline of 10 years has been set - I repeat, "a tentative deadline of 10 years" - to reach this figure of 2%.

The other two questions are: firstly, why didn't we attend the meeting and whether we form part of the coalition or not; and secondly, why we haven't sent arms to those people in opposition to the members of the Islamic State in Iraq.

As regards the first question, I had dinner last night, along with others - we were more than 20 people - with President Obama and the main part of dinner and the main part of my intervention - it was not public, as you are all aware - was in reference to this issue of how we see the situation in Syria, of how we see the situation in Iraq, of what we felt should be done in the future and how things should be approached.

Last night, at this dinner - and this is indeed very important, such as in any aspect of life - there was agreement on the diagnosis. In other words, we all agree and share the vision that we are facing a very serious threat to regional stability, which also affects our security and that of all our countries. Hence, agreement was reached on the diagnosis.

Anyone can see the things that are happening there, the atrocities, the videos that we have unfortunately been able to see posted on the Internet and which have been picked up by the TV stations. We are facing a very serious threat to the security of everyone.

Secondly, what we are looking for is the formula to tackle this situation between us all. We are looking for this formula among all of the NATO members. This is not an operation by a few countries, it is a global operation by all the members of NATO.

My third comment is that we were studying what can and what must be done by NATO.

And, fourthly, we were also studying what can and what must be done by each NATO member. Clearly, you have heard the North American Secretary of State, Mr Kerry, say that we are not planning to send troops over there; but there are many other aspects such as intelligence, humanitarian aid, logistics, the training of the Iraqi armed forces and security forces.

In other words, there are many issues on the table at this time and, for the time being, no decision has been taken on the main, key issues. But something which is very important is that we agree on the diagnosis; we are facing a threat to our security and this must be tackled. We will now see, in the near future, what NATO will do and what each of the members of NATO will do.

Precisely with this response I have practically answered your second question. We will give our opinion, as a member of NATO, we will support all our allies and we will see what is asked of us and what responsibilities we must take on there.

But, at any event, what mustn't be done, not on an issue of these characteristics nor, in general, in any aspect of life, is to get ahead of events. I repeat, what is important is that we agree on the diagnosis; this is a threat for the security of everyone and we will act jointly in response.

As I already said, that was the main content of my talks at the dinner we had last night - the issues of Syria and Iraq and what is going on there.

Q.- President of the Government, as regards the Rapid Response Force you mentioned, I wanted to know just what Spain will contribute to it.

Then, I had two questions related to Catalonia. First, the General Secretary of the Partido Popular in Catalonia has asked today for unity among the political parties that are opposed to Catalan sovereignty. I would like to know whether that request comes directly from you or simply from the General Secretary.

A second question. As regards Jordi Pujol, former President of the Government González said that he finds it hard to believe that Jordi Pujol is corrupt. I would like to know if you also find this hard to believe.

President of the Government.- On the matter you have just mentioned, I will leave things to the courts and to the appearance by Mr Pujol in the Regional Parliament. And please allow me to let things stand there.

As regards the Rapid Response Force, I would like to say that this is not anything new. NATO already has a Rapid Reaction Force at this time and all of the members of NATO are represented on the Rapid Reaction Force, and what we have agreed is simply to speed up the procedures to cut down the current response times.

This is a force that already exists at present, but the issue is making it a much more rapid, flexible and effective force than it is at present. And it is a force that is geared towards dissuading any threat to any territory of any NATO member. Hence, this is the only new feature; in other words, all of the NATO countries are present because that is our obligation; if not, we would not be part of NATO. This is nothing new, but it will be quicker, more flexible and more effective.

In relation to the issue of the call on political parties, obviously all of those political forces that share such an important principle as sovereignty, revolve around the Spanish people, the people who are in favour of national unity, those who believe that it makes no sense in the times in which we live, when we are talking about major global union processes; right here we have been talking about all countries working together in the defence of our mutual security; in Europe we are talking about the European Parliament and Commission having increasingly greater powers… It makes no sense.

Any process at this time to break up a country, of the separation of one part therefrom, will only lead, inevitably, to impoverishing their citizens as a whole; in other words, it is bad for those that break away but it is also bad for those who remain. Hence, as many people see it that way, fortunately ,in our country, I believe that we can continue to work together, which is nothing new. Not long ago a debate was held in the Lower House of Parliament and there was a satisfying agreement among a majority of the members of the different political parties which, moreover, we have witnessed in various elections.

Hence, it is a question of everyone defending, when in agreement, their position. That is very important. Defending national unity is an obligation of the President of the Government and an obligation of the Members of Parliament and of the political parties; but I believe that it is also an obligation of all those that feel and hold similar approaches to the one I have just mentioned.

I believe that's all.

Q.- President of the Government, yesterday Artur Mas asked you to allow him to hold the referendum on 9 November precisely because of that; because it is only a referendum, without any legal effects. I would like to hear your opinion about this.

And a matter of curiosity, is it true that Felipe González intervened so that you could hold your meeting this summer?

President of the Government.- As regards the first issue, I believe that this is a very serious and a very delicate matter, and we shouldn't play at semantics or wordplay. This, I repeat, is a very serious matter. Since the very day on which the intention to call a referendum was announced, on 12 December 2013, I stated with absolute clarity that this referendum would not be held, because it is illegal. The illegality of its nature was subsequently ratified by the Constitutional Court and by a huge majority in the Lower House of Parliament, as I just mentioned in response to your colleague.

Hence, by mentioning now that this is a mere survey, or that it is a consultation is… Just look, I obviously take this very seriously. I believe that it is an important issue for the people, for Spain, for the Spanish people that live in Catalonia and for those that live in the rest of Spain, and I am not going to get involved in more wordplay. Quite simply, it is not legal so won't be held. In addition to not being legal, it goes against our whole history and our feelings, against what the vast majority of the Spanish people think, against our past and against the future of the Spanish people that live in Catalonia and in the rest of Spain because, as I have just said, it only impoverishes us all, it will result in Catalonia leaving the European Union and its isolation from a world that, as you are all aware, is fortunately becoming increasingly interdependent.

As regards Felipe González, I should say that I talk with many people, including Mr González; but obviously I wouldn't be taken seriously if I spoke in public about the private conversations I have with the different people I talk with.

Q.- I wanted to know what effect a hypothetical "yes" victory in the Scottish independence referendum could have on the issue of Catalonia.

President of the Government.- I am not an analyst, but it should be said that the situations in Scotland and Catalonia are not related in any way whatsoever; they are two completely different issues. I can only see two things in common; first, that whenever you seek to carry out a political operation of this nature it is good to explain to the people the consequences of this operation and, of course, there are two very clear consequences: firstly, that if either of them decide to break away they would also have to leave the European Union and not be a party to any current international treaty; and secondly, there would be a huge fall in the Gross Domestic Product and in the levels of well-being and wealth.

Everything else is entirely unrelated and hence, one thing has nothing to do with the other.

Q.- As regards the so-called Core Coalition against the Islamic State, you mentioned aspects such as intelligence, humanitarian aid, logistics, etc. Is it in relation to these aspects that Spain may be called upon to participate in some way?

President of the Government.- What should never be done, and less so in issues of this nature, is to get ahead of ourselves. At the present time, Spain is in Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia......... Spain is in many places and, specifically, it is fighting against Jihadi terrorism in both Mali and Somalia. We are there; this has been spoken about and approved by Parliament and we are accompanied by our allies; in some places we operate with the European Union, in others, with NATO. And now we must speak about Iraq and Syria.

But, as I said, we are not going to get ahead of ourselves for the simple reason that it still hasn't been decided what NATO is going to do.

I heard Mr Kerry this morning publicly announce that there obviously wouldn't be any military operation or ground operation, and that he feels that at this time it is not appropriate to undertake any military operations on the ground. So, why would we get ahead of ourselves when no decision has yet been taken? I explained this at the beginning; an agreement has been reached on the diagnosis. Aside from that, we will have to speak about everything else and then decisions will be taken.

Q.- You have insisted on Jihadi terrorism at a request from Spain. I wanted to know if you have found a response here at these NATO meetings; if you have received a satisfactory response.

Furthermore, on Tuesday next week, I believe it is, the meetings kick off in the Lower House of Parliament with the rest of the parliamentary groups to seek agreement on democratic regeneration. Do you believe you will reach an agreement, and if not, will you plough on without the support of the rest of the groups?

President of the Government.- I believe that all the NATO countries are in agreement on Jihadi terrorism. This is probably the issue that has taken up most time over the course of these days, together with the issue of Ukraine; but I believe that, in the end, this issue has taken up more time than Ukraine. This issue of Ukraine is complicated; it is a complex issue and possible new sanctions on Russia, as a result of its attitude, are being discussed today in Brussels.

But you have all had the opportunity to see, because they have been shown to us, the things that some people are capable of doing. There is obviously a clear threat there, there is no recognition of the borders and it is very important that the international community guarantees its security and that this is done with the agreement of many countries which, whilst not forming part of NATO, exist in that region.

Hence, I am calm on this issue because there is a diagnosis of the situation; I also feel calm because what is happening in Eastern Europe is important, but what is happening in the Middle East and to the south of Europe is also important. So, I feel calm and, aside from that, what we must wait and see, in the talks that take place within NATO, wait and see what NATO's reaction is and how each country is called on to participate in what it intends to do.

I would like to see an agreement, because it is true that there is a very significant part of Spanish society that wants to see a reaction. We have approved a very important Transparency Act, which will come into force in November; we have presented various draft bills; we have laid various proposals on the table and we would like to see an agreement with the rest of the political forces because, moreover, we have said that we are prepared to consider the proposals that others may wish to make. What makes no sense is to spend all day protesting but then not make any effort to reach an understanding.

I believe that, if there is good will and common sense, an agreement can be reached and I believe that these are laws which can undoubtedly be useful for the people of Spain as a whole.

Q.- President of the Government, you say that you are not going to get ahead of yourself, first of all I would like to know if you can assure us that Spain will not be sending any troops.

We are here at the NATO Summit at which there was also talk of cyber-attacks. I would like to know what happened with your Twitter account, on which, it would appear, thousands of Arabs have started to follow you.

Finally, excuse me for insisting on a previous question, but I would like to know whether, if no agreement is reached in the end, you will plough on with the electoral reform as a result of your absolute majority.

President of the Government.- Since I expect to reach an agreement, I will not provide a response to a situation that I hope doesn't come about.

In relation to my Twitter account, to be frank, I have responded on Twitter, which is where the issue took place, and please allow me to leave it there.

As regards the issue of sending troops, I have already stated that not even NATO has taken a decision as to sending troops - let's see if I'm able to explain this well - and today we have heard the US Secretary of State saying that he doesn't see the need to send troops. Hence, the answer is self-explanatory.

Q.- The diagnosis is shared by everyone, but, what is your view on how to combat the Islamic State? Do you feel that any shelling of Syrian territory should include the support of President Assad?

President of the Government.- We have reached an agreement on the diagnosis. Aside from that, you will appreciate that it makes no sense for us all to make our solutions public, because the most important part of the question you asked is regarding whether whatever is done is done with the agreement of all the allies, of everyone together. This is an issue for everyone, not an issue for an individual country, or for two or three countries, and the credit belongs to everyone; but the first thing, and that is why I say it is very positive, is for a diagnosis; secondly, that any decision taken is taken with the consensus of everyone.

Having said that, what else can I announce? It is important for Iraq to have an inclusive government, in other words, for it to be representative of the general feelings of the whole country. Well, of everyone…, of the vast majority of the country. That is very important and, aside from that, it would help us all a great deal. Then, there are many things that still need to be thought about, that still need to be studied and worked on; but I don't feel it is appropriate to hold a public debate on this matter.

And the same answer is valid for your other question.

Thank you very much.