The Minister for Defence and her Iraqi counterpart highlight the commitment of "two friendly countries" to peace and stability

Meeting between the Minister for Defence, Margarita Robles, and her Iraqi counterpart, Thabit Mohammad Saeed Al-Abbasi, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence in Baghdad

In the first meeting of their trip to Iraq, the leaders highlighted the friendship between the two countries and their commitment "to the common goal of working for peace", said Minister Robles, who also thanked them for "the welcome and support they are giving to our troops deployed here".

Robles stressed that the two countries will strengthen their bilateral relations in the areas of defence and training: "These are very important relations in an area like the Middle East, because both countries are firmly committed to peace", which is currently very unstable due to the worrying situation in Gaza.

For the past 10 years, Spain has shown its commitment to peace and stability in the country through the international coalition against DAESH (Operation Inherent Resolve), and in the NATO Training Mission (NMI). The two missions deploy a combined total of 370 Spanish military personnel.

Robles recalled that Spain is the largest contributor to the NATO mission, with 183 military personnel, which since May 2023 has been under the command of Lieutenant General José Antonio Agüero. In addition to security tasks, this mission assists in capacity building for the protection of civilians, women and children.

As a result of the crisis in Gaza, the security of the entire region, and particularly Iraq's, is being profoundly threatened, which is why Minister Robles thanked the Iraqi government for the efforts it is making to prevent and eradicate attacks on the bases where Spanish military forces, among others, are stationed.

NATO Headquarters

Afterwards, Minister Robles went to NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) Headquarters at the Union III Base, where she met with the head of the mission and of the Spanish contingent, Lieutenant General Agüero, with whom she reviewed the political and economic situation in the country and the border territories, as well as the day-to-day running of the mission. The minister shared a late dinner with the Spanish troops.

She addressed a few words to the attendees to share with them the gratitude expressed by her Iraqi colleague towards troops who are "prepared, professional, and with whom they want to have bilateral relations".

"It is a luxury to have military personnel like the ones Spain has, and you should feel very proud of what you are doing, contributing to peace in such difficult times, just as I feel proud when the role of the Spanish army is praised," said Robles.

The NATO mission began in October 2018 and incorporates tasks related to security advice to the Government of Iraq and assistance to the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Robles travelled to Iraq accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, the Secretary General for Defence Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez, and the Commander of the Operations Command, Lieutenant General Francisco Braco.

Tomorrow, Thursday, Minister Robles is scheduled to meet first with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al Sudani, and later with the head of Operation Inherent Resolve, Major General Joel "JB" Vowell.

Non official translation