Acting President of the Government takes part in meeting of NATO leaders

Pedro Sánchez calls for NATO to modernise and adapt to new challenges

President's News - 2019.12.4

The Acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, took part in the meeting of NATO leaders held in London, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Washington Treaty, at which the 29 Heads of State and Government that make up the organisation set out their vision of what peacetime relations should be like between both sides of the Atlantic.

Images from the greeting of NATO Secretary-General and UK Prime Minister to Pedro Sanchez, from the family photo of NATO leaders and from the meeting of the Atlantic Alliance CouncilPool Moncloa / Diego del Monte2019.12.4

02:50 Images from the greeting of NATO Secretary-General and UK Prime Minister to Pedro...

London (United Kingdom)

Acting President of the Government Sánchez, in his speech at the NATO Council meeting, called for NATO to modernise and adapt to new challenges. "There are no longer security threats to individual nations; hence we are obliged to commit to negotiated solutions through enhanced and effective multilateralism", he said.

The Acting President of the Government called for reflection on the future of NATO, "through cohesion and unity", to establish what type of NATO we want for the coming decades. "Only through this reflection will we be useful to our citizens", he said in his speech.

Acting President of the Government Sánchez also encouraged the leaders to strengthen the democratic values of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and prioritise human security with particular attention to the United Nations Women, Peace and Security Agenda (Resolution 1325). In this regard, the Acting President of the Government stressed that Spain backs the new NATO policy to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse as an example of NATO's "zero tolerance" of this form of conduct.

Lastly, Pedro Sánchez highlighted the need to make progress on European defence, convinced, he said "that European defence strengthens the European pillar of NATO, complements it and also makes it more effective".

Spain's contribution to NATO

Spain "is a reliable, responsible and supportive partner" that currently has more than 1,000 servicemen and women deployed on NATO operations and is the leading contributor from the European Union. Our country has forces taking part in six permanent NATO operations, as well as on 17 international missions: four for the United Nations, 10 for the European Union (six military and four civilian), two bilateral missions in support of France and one within the framework of the International Coalition against DAESH in Iraq.

Spain has been widely recognised by its allies for its commitment to maintain its presence in 2020 on the NATO missile defence mission in Turkey.

Non official translation