MADRID (AP) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the NATO summit in Madrid this week aims to show the united front of Western allies in defense of democratic values in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. while increasing the deterrence capabilities of the block.
In an interview with The Associated Press a day before the summit began on Tuesday, he reiterated that the alliance would not tolerate any territorial aggression against its members.
“We need to convey a message of deterrence, which we are willing to defend every inch of Allied territory,” Sanchez said.
Russian President Vladimir “Putin is not only invading Ukraine. What he wants is to destabilize, to weaken security, the prosperity of Europe. “
Speaking at the palace that houses the prime minister’s office and residence in Madrid, Sánchez said that the main goal of the NATO summit is to send “a message of unity in line with democracy, security, the international order, based on rules that, unfortunately, Putin and the Russian Federation have broken with the invasion of Ukraine. “
A key issue will be to strengthen NATO’s military presence on its eastern flank, as well as to meet Spain’s demand not to ignore emerging threats to the alliance’s southern strip, especially from unstable African areas such as the Sahel.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that the alliance will increase the size of its rapid reaction force to 300,000 troops. Currently, the force has about 40,000 soldiers.
Stoltenberg also said the Allies will discuss how to respond to the growing influence of Russia and China in NATO’s “southern quarter.”
The Madrid summit, which opens with a state dinner on Tuesday followed by talks on Wednesday, was announced a year ago with an eye on a new “Strategic Concept,” the renewal once in a decade of the votes of NATO members exposing the threats to the alliance and its response.
But after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, a key issue has become the end of Finland and Sweden’s stance on neutrality and non-alignment to apply for NATO membership. , which has bothered Russia a lot.
The proclaimed unity of NATO is being tested on the issue, as Turkey, which has the alliance’s second largest army after the United States, seeks guarantees from Finland and Sweden regarding Kurdish groups that Ankara considers terrorists.
The leaders of the three countries announced that they will hold a special meeting on Tuesday in Madrid.
“The incorporation of Finland and Sweden, sooner or later, will be possible,” Sanchez told the AP. “We would like it to be at the Madrid summit, I don’t deny it but obviously if it doesn’t, the talks will continue.”
Sanchez, a socialist politician who has led Spain’s first national coalition government since early 2020, faces criticism from Unidas Podemos (United We Can), a far-left party that occupies five of the 22 seats of the Cabinet, for its support of NATO. military engagement with Ukraine.
Some members of Units Podemos have said they will not support Spain’s national budget next year if military spending increases as Spaniards struggle with rampant inflation and other economic difficulties.
Without specifying a deadline, Sánchez said that Spain was committed to increasing its defense budget from just over 1% of GDP, the second lowest of all European NATO members, to the committed 2% by all allies “in the next decade.”
Two of the most watched topics at the summit will be Russia and China when it comes to NATO’s new strategic roadmap for the next 10 years.
Sanchez said the “Strategic Concept”, which was last updated in Lisbon in 2010, will see Russia transformed from being considered a NATO partner to becoming the Alliance’s main security threat. Atlantic “.
As for China, Sanchez said Beijing “represents a challenge that also offers opportunities for collaboration,” and indicated that Spain does not support classifying Beijing’s assertiveness as a threat, as some allies may want.
Pressed by the global disruption that the Ukrainian war is unleashing on energy and food supply and the prospect of a severe recession, some European leaders have begun calling for a negotiated end to the war, even if it involves territorial sacrifices. by Ukraine.
But Sanchez distanced himself from supporting those calls.
“It is a decision that must be made by Ukraine, not us,” he said.