Spain commemorates 40 years since joining NATO

Four decades have passed since, on 30 May 1982, Prime Minister Calvo-Sotelo announced Spain's official accession to the world's most important military organisation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Four decades that have been commemorated this Monday with the Teatro Real in Madrid as the stage, and which have brought together many of the most important figures - present and past - in the history of the organisation. 

The King of Spain, Felipe VI, as well as the President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, together with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, Defence, Margarita Robles, Interior, Fernando Grande Marlaska, among others, and four of the six former presidents of recent years - with the exception of Mariano Rajoy, and Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, now deceased - were present at the event.  They were joined by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, former Secretary Generals Javier Solana, George Robertson, Willy Claes and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as well as the 30 ambassadors of the Alliance's Atlantic Council member states, who were among the more than 300 guests.

"Belonging to NATO is essential to guarantee who we are, our way of life, our stability and the future of the generations to come," said the Prime Minister during his speech. Security threats, both in Ukraine, to the east, where Russia continues its offensive - for the 96th consecutive day - and in the Sahel, to the south, where jihadist movements continue to multiply, became one of the main themes of the day. 

"We are facing NATO's greatest challenge in recent history (...) Today our security is threatened by Putin's regime and we must strengthen our deterrence capacity with more investment in defence," Sánchez said, urging Spain to almost double its defence budget. From around 1.03% of GDP to 2%. The war "has opened the eyes" of Europe, and many have understood that "security is not guaranteed indefinitely", he said. 

For his part, Felipe VI made a point of highlighting the instability in the neighbouring continent to the south. "Spain fully shares the crucial importance of maintaining a solid deterrence and defence on our eastern flank (...) But our collective security also requires the Alliance to pay increasing attention to the challenges of the southern strategic direction, where terrorism of a jihadist matrix directly threatens our societies and where, in addition, other actors, state and non-state, who do not share the values present in the United Nations Charter, try to do so indirectly," he said, alluding to the Russian Wagner group. 

Spain's role in NATO has become progressively more important in recent years. The NATO Secretary General praised this: "Spain is a solid, strong and reliable ally". Although the country did not become a fully integrated military structure until 1999, the strategic position of the peninsula has led the Alliance to make Spain one of its favourite operational enclaves. In fact, the High Readiness Land Headquarters in Valencia is home to nearly 80,000 Allied units from up to 11 different countries.

"Spain will continue to play a key role in our Alliance, because in this age of increasing global competition, our unity is our strength," Stoltenberg said. 

The 40th anniversary of Spain's entry into NATO comes less than a month before the North Atlantic Alliance summit in Madrid on 29-30 June. The meeting is expected to be attended by the 30 heads of state and government of all member countries, as well as invited guests Sweden and Finland, and the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea - Atlantic Alliance partners in the Pacific.  

"At the Madrid summit we will lead the way, we will reset our defence for a more dangerous world," explained Jens Stoltenberg during his speech on Monday. One of the main objectives of the June summit is the signing of a new Strategic Concept. A new road map to take over from the one approved in Lisbon in 2010, and which adapts to new security challenges such as hybrid warfare, cyber-attacks and disinformation, and climate change. 

This Strategic Concept will be subject to the NATO 2030 agenda, the conceptual framework that will guide the roadmap and which is expected to be approved this Monday.