María Dolores de Cospedal proposes "strengthening operational presence in the south" to Secretary General of NATO

The minister held a meeting with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, at which she declared to him her "interest in strengthening NATO's operational presence in the south", as also expressed by the Ministers for Defence of Spain, France, Italy and Portugal in a letter to him a few days ago, following the informal meeting held in Porto in preparation for the meeting of the North Atlantic Council on 15 and 16 February.

In this regard, at an earlier meeting with the media, María Dolores de Cospedal highlighted, upon her arrival at NATO headquarters in Brussels, "the importance Spain assigns to NATO being a balanced alliance in all aspects and in all its geographic axes. NATO policy on its southern flank is very important to us".

The minister also pointed to the need to forge "closer collaboration and a better use of synergies between NATO and other international organisations, such as the European Union, the Arab League and the African Union so that, in addition to NATO's capabilities, we can harness their strengths, not only at a military level, but also in terms of reconstruction, advice and technical assistance to other countries, primarily to the south, that need to strengthen their institutions".

As regards relations between Spain and the United States, the minister underscored the position of "defending Spain's defence interests while maintaining our position as a partner and ally of the United States, which we have excellent relations with and intend to continue doing so".

To end, María Dolores de Cospedal concluded that "Spain has taken on a commitment that it acquired with NATO at the Wales Summit to gradually increase spending on national defence to 2% of GDP".

Agenda of the ministerial meeting

During the working sessions of the North Atlantic Council on 15 February, the defence ministers will analyse the current situation of NATO at a strategic level to tackle future global challenges, address NATO's agenda in response to threats from the south and strengthen transatlantic ties, as well as cooperation between NATO and the European Union.

On Thursday, 16 February, the ministers will step up the collective dissuasive and security measures agreed at the recent Warsaw Summit, noteworthy of which is the deployment of four battalions on the borders of Eastern Europe. Furthermore, the NATO-Georgia Commission (NGC) will meet to analyse the current situation in the region and the institutional reforms carried out in the Asian country.