Pedro Morenés signs protocol to Partnership Agreement between Spain and US enabling deployment of 4 US destroyers at Rota naval base

In order to significantly contribute to the NATO ballistic missile defence shield, the Council of Ministers Agreement of 7 October 2011 authorised the deployment of four US AEGIS class destroyers at the Spanish naval base in Rota, as well as the installations that will enable the permanent docking of these ships and their crews at the base.

As well as authorisation from the Council of Ministers, this request, which was formulated at the time by the US through the Permanent Spain-US Committee under the framework of Article 11 of the current Partnership Agreement on Defence between Spain and the United States of America, required an Agreement Amendment Protocol to define the changes to the nature of the missions and the increased level of US strength at the Rota naval base.

The agreed Amendment Protocol mainly affects Annex 2 of the Agreement on "Spanish bases and authorised levels of strength" and comprises a preamble, three articles and one final provision that contain the authorisation granted in accordance with the terms of the Agreement and with Spanish and US legislation for a period of eight years.

Spain's involvement in the NATO ballistic missile shield as a key ally through the deployment of four AEGIS class US Navy destroyers at the Rota naval base is taking place at no cost to Spain and will directly contribute to the effective protection of Spain and its people, and to the security of Europe as a whole.

The four US ships that will be based in Rota will not conduct their missions from the base but rather the base will provide deployment support for conducting their missions in a bilateral nature or through NATO in international waters.

The NATO ballistic missile defence programme is a strictly defensive initiative aimed at guaranteeing greater security for Europe through preventive and dissuasive measures that thus represent no risk and is not aimed against any specific country. For the time being, and in addition to Spain, contributions will also be made to the programme via agreements between the US and Turkey, Romania and Poland. The Netherlands and France have announced the development of detection resources and armament modifications that will enable their involvement in the programme.