Margarita Robles receives Chile's Minister for National Defence

The Minister for Defence, Margarita Robles, has received her Chilean counterpart, Maya Alejandra Fernández Allende, at the Ministry of Defence, as part of her official visit to Spain following her participation in the first Schuman Forum on Defence and Security, organised by the EU this week in Brussels.

After the statutory honours were performed by a mixed company from the army, the navy and the air and space army, accompanied by a section of the music unit, the two ministers reviewed the force and greeted the Chilean and Spanish delegations.

The meeting began with the signing by both ministers of a Declaration of Intent on Women, Peace and Security, which calls for the strengthening of women's participation in international peace negotiations and security, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and related resolutions. In this respect, they agreed on actions to include this Agenda in the next Spanish-Chilean Defence Cooperation Commission (COMIX) and in international defence bodies in which the two ministries take part.

During their meeting, the two ministers highlighted the priority interest in boosting bilateral relations, extending military cooperation to new areas, an aspect that will be strengthened during the Spanish presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023. The meeting was also attended by the Secretary General for Defence Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez; the Ambassador of the Republic of Chile in Spain, Javier Velasco, and the Chilean Defence Attaché, Colonel Francisco Arellano, among others.

Areas of cooperation

After mentioning the contribution of the Military Emergency Unit to extinguishing forest fires in Chile last February, the two Defence Ministers discussed cooperation in different areas. In the area of emergencies, Robles reiterated Spain's offer of courses and exercises. They also discussed cooperation in cyber defence, particularly in education and training, as well as in the space domain and in the field of defence industry.

In the opinion of both ministers, the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) and the International Defence Fair (FEINDEF), whose third edition will be held in May, have become true benchmarks for strengthening collaboration between the two countries and other Ibero-American nations.

Fernández Allende's visit to Spain will culminate tomorrow in a ceremony at the Chilean Embassy to present the Bicentenary Decoration of the Ministry of National Defence to the UME banner in recognition of the services provided during the wildfires in Chile, along with a visit to the Joint Cyberspace Command (MCCE), where she will explain its organisation, functioning, tasks and capabilities.

At the request of the Chilean government, on 5 February Spain deployed a 50-strong contingent of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) to help extinguish the wave of fires that were raging in the country and to offer the Chilean government its specialised support with technical capabilities, such as analysis and advice on LCIF and reinforcement of the command-and-control structure with drones (Mavic and Matrice 300 for large areas and Helios for confined spaces), and with satellite links.

The team, which spent a month in the South American country and intervened in the Biobío region, the one most affected by the fire, also contributed with Spain's experience in dealing with wildland-urban interface fires, one of the threats of greatest concern to Chilean officials.

Non official translation