Words from President of the Government following his meeting with the Secretary-General of NATO and the Secretary of Defense of the United States

Thank you very much and good afternoon.
I would firstly like to express my satisfaction at being here, in Brussels, at the NATO headquarters, with the Secretary-General, Anders Rasmussen, with whom I have a good relationship and friendship, and of course with the US Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta.
Before assessing the agreement, I would like to refer to the North Atlantic Council meeting that has just been held here in Brussels. This Council meeting represents one more step on the path mapped out a little less than a year ago at the Lisbon Summit to turn NATO into a more effective, involved and efficient alliance than ever before, as stated by its Secretary-General, Anders Rasmussen.
Decisions of great importance were taken at the Lisbon Summit, such as the new strategic concept for the challenges of the 21st Century and the establishment of a more flexible, lightweight and improved command structure. Furthermore, we decided to develop an anti-missile defence system. This is a dissuasive and solely defensive initiative; and hence is not aimed at any party in particular. By means of the initiative, NATO seeks to ensure the protection of the whole of Europe and its citizens against the growing threat of the proliferation of missiles from those States that do not respect international law.
As you will remember, as a result of the new structure put in place in Lisbon, Spain was awarded a highly important facility within the command and control structure of NATO: the Combined Aerial Operation Centre in Torrejón de Ardoz. This Centre, together with another located in the German town of Uedem, will form part of the command and aerial control system in which the anti-missile defence system that NATO is setting up will be integrated.
Together with this land component of the new aerial defence system, I can inform you that Spain will also provide decisive support, as from 2013, for an important part of the naval component of the system.
Over the last few months, we have been studying and engaged in dialogue with NATO and with the United States regarding the possibilities that Spain can offer, in particular the Naval Base in Rota, as a headquarters for this decisive contribution to the naval defence system within the framework of anti-missile defence. And Spain will be home to this component of the system due to its geo-strategic position and its position as a point of entry to the Mediterranean.
Specifically, the United States will deploy, as its contribution to the anti-missile defence of NATO, a total of four vessels equipped with the Aegis system, which will be based in Rota. This means that Rota will become a support base for the deployment of vessels in such a way that they can form part of multinational forces or carry out NATO missions in international waters, particularly in the Mediterranean: surveillance and security missions, by way of example.
Spain is a supportive and committed member of the collective defence of Europe and it will participate in and support this initiative, which aims to improve the defence and security of our people. We thus undertake with the total conviction that this commitment to the collective defence also provides a guarantee for the defence of our territory and of all Spaniards.
Furthermore for our country this initiative will have a very positive impact in socio-economic terms and in particular for the Bay of Cadiz. The establishment of four naval vessels in Rota will require investment in infrastructures, contracts with service companies, contracts with ship-yards and will generate a presence of around 1,100 military personnel together with 1,000 direct and indirect jobs. There will be a total presence of around 3,400 North Americans - military personnel, civilians and their families - in the area.
Hence, for the shipyards and the Spanish defence industry, the foreseeable impact will also be very positive, since the United States, will consider the possibilities of carrying out maintenance and other technical works on its vessels at the shipyards in San Fernando in the province of Cadiz.
Furthermore it will also be very important for our Armed Forces to have available the latest cutting-edge technology and also open up the opportunity to collaborate in the training between our armed forces.
In short, I would like to express satisfaction and I would like to thank NATO and the United States for thinking of Spain. This is a sign of great trust in our country and our Armed Forces, whose prestige has made it possible for a proposal of this nature. And, of course, I would like to congratulate the Minister for Defence and her whole team for concluding this important dialogue process, the results of which, as I mentioned, will start to be seen as of 2013.
Finally, I would also like to announce that this decision, which is a decision, don't forget this, of great scope, has been made known to the main party for some months. In this respect there has been positive and constructive dialogue.