NATO defence ministers meet in Brussels to advance the allied agenda ahead of the upcoming Madrid Summit

2021.10.21

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Robles expressed her satisfaction with the important advances in the concept and posture of Allied Deterrence and Defence, to which Spain is making a decisive contribution by contributing ideas in the conceptual debates and contributing land, naval and air forces to NATO missions and operations where they are most needed.

Looking ahead to the NATO Summit in Madrid in June, a joint meeting of Atlantic Alliance ministers was also held with EU High Representative Josep Borrell and the defence ministers of Sweden and Finland to discuss cooperation between the two organisations in the face of shared challenges.

Spain is actively participating in the preparatory reflection processes for NATO's Strategic Concept and the EU's Strategic Compass, which will be published in 2022.

Bilateral meeting with the United States

In addition, Robles held a bilateral meeting with the Secretary of Defence, Lloyd J. Austin, in which both discussed common defence interests, based on the agreement that "we are firm, solid and serious allies" in the defence of the values of the international community that Spain and the United States share. It has also been pointed out that "the US will play a pivotal role in the NATO summit in Madrid. We will work together to make the summit, which will be strategically very important for NATO in the coming years, a success. The Secretary of Defence valued Spain's contribution to the joint effort and its capacity as a secure exporter.

Both recalled the vital role of the Rota Naval Base in the US evacuation effort from Afghanistan last August. "They were especially grateful that the Rota base has served as a reception centre for the Afghan collaborators," said Robles at the end of the meeting.

Robles said she was once again "proud of the values and actions of our armed forces during the evacuation" and thanked the United States for its help and the sacrifice of the thirteen Marines who gave their lives to facilitate it.

The Minister for Defence recalled that NATO "must maintain a very special commitment to the defence of human rights, with special attention to those of women and girls".

In their interview, Robles and Austin also discussed the situation in the Sahel, concerns about climate change and developments in Africa, a continent to which NATO and the EU need to pay special attention. The Secretary of Defence has valued the presence of the Spanish Navy in the Gulf of Guinea.

Other meetings

In a specifically European pre-session, EU ministers and heads of delegation, together with EU High Representative Josep Borrell, had in-depth discussions on some aspects of the future Strategic Compass, such as the need to strengthen the European military response capability, always under the principle of complementarity with NATO.

The Spanish agenda was completed with a meeting with its counterpart from the Republic of North Macedonia, a meeting of the countries contributing to NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFPP) mission in Latvia and a conference of the countries participating in the Coalition against Daesh, which once again demonstrated Spain's commitment to global security and stability.

Non official translation