Morenés: "Spain is considering participation in the Canadian battalion in Latvia"

The acting Minister for Defence noted that "Spain has been asked to make a number of contributions" within the framework of the advanced presence in the countries of Eastern Europe. Among the requests is to send a company to form part of the battalion led by Canada in Latvia. "Its composition and objectives will depend on how the battalion is constituted, but it will be made up of between 100 and 130 troops," he said. However, Morenés stressed that "following parliamentary approval, it is up to the next government to take the appropriate decisions, which have already been well studied and planned."

Spain has also been asked to participate in the battalion that NATO is to deploy in Romania, although the minister said that this "is still to be defined".

In addition, Morenés highlighted the importance that 360º collective defence has for stability on the Southern Flank.

In this respect, the Minister for Defence said that since the Wales Summit, Spain has supported a strengthening of the Alliance that guarantees the protection of the allied territory and population against the challenges and threats with a 360º vision, given that "a 360º development is the best way of helping to tackle all the risks and threats."

"The risks and threats we are facing are increasingly serious, and represent not only threats of a military nature, but also in other areas that affect society," he continued. This means greater involvement by NATO in the matter of dissuasion and collective defence to the threats from the south, not limited to only cooperative security and "partnered" activities or the imbalance of the alliance to the east to the detriment of 360º balance.

With respect to relations between NATO and the European Union, Morenés stressed that the general idea is that "a Europe that is strong in defence, solid, credible and well led, is being built up as an essential contribution to an increasingly strong NATO." He noted that "Spain has given signs of its solidarity, with a presence in far-off locations", while it is "participating in all the European Union operations."

The Minister for Defence spoke in favour of boosting cooperation between NATO and the EU as the best way of achieving a more effective Euro-Atlantic security, whose complementarity must prevent duplications of capacities or unnecessary efforts. His message was one of unity and political cohesion.

"A stronger Europe cannot mean a weaker NATO; and NATO cannot be strengthened by weakening Europe" he explained, while "each organisation must guarantee the other of its responsibilities with respect to collective security.

The meeting agenda

On Wednesday, 26 October, the first session of the North Atlantic Council was held as a session of Defence Ministers. It was marked by a debate concerning the new allied policy of dissuasion and defence, where the defence ministers analysed the progress made in the Readiness Action Plan (RAP) approved at the Wales Summit; the advanced presence in countries in Eastern Europe and the process of planning capacities; the challenges and threats from the south; and cyberdefence.

At the working dinner the Defence ministers dealt with NATO activities and operations to project stability on the Southern Flank. Among them are the establishment of a "regional centre", probably in the NATO Headquarters in Naples, as a coordination unit to strengthen NATO effectiveness in response to challenges and threats from the south.

On Thursday, the working session was dedicated to relations between NATO and the EU, the main focus of attention in the post-Brexit context, where the ministers have agreed on the need to push through and strengthen mutual cooperation to deal with the common Euro-Atlantic security challenges following the Joint Declaration between the two institutions at the Warsaw Summit.

Attending this session was Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who has requested the support of the Alliance in the "Sophia" operation on tasks of vigilance and information, logistics and support for the arms embargo on Libya in compliance with Resolution 2292 of the UN Security Council

These activities could be carried out within the framework of NATO's new "Sea Guardian" operation, which makes clear the firm commitment to make progress in the different areas identified in the Warsaw Declaration and, in particular, in relation to maritime security.