The participation of Spanish troops (a mechanized unit, combat aircraft and ships) in NATO operations in Eastern Europe to dissuade Russia was approved in the Council of Ministers on December 21, as the culmination of a process that is repeated every year. At that time, Washington had already warned that Moscow had more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine to launch an invasion “in early 2022”.
In the agreement approved by the Government, to which EL PAIS has had access, it is stated: “Spain maintains its commitment to deterrence and collective defense, while strengthening its ties with the rest of the Alliance countries, participating with units ground and air forces in the activities of the Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic republics […] and in the NATO Air Police, assisting allies that lack adequate air defense”, an allusion to the Baltic republics and the eastern Balkans. “In this same sense”, he adds, “we continue with our participation in the NATO Permanent Naval Groups, both escorts (SNMG) and mine countermeasures vessels (SNMCMG), following the scheme and assignment of commands of the groups designed by NATO”, he added.
Every time NATO launches a new operation, it celebrates what is called force generation conference, in which countries specify the contributions they are willing to make. When NATO launched the Enhanced Forward Presence (EPP) mission in 2017, which included the deployment of four multinational combat groups in the three Baltic republics and Poland, the Spanish Government (then of the PP) decided to contribute 350 soldiers to the battalion in Latvia and they are still there. However, in the air policing mission in the Baltic (which protects the airspace of the former Soviet republics from Russian incursions) and in the NATO fleets (there are four, two frigates and two minehunters), the countries go rotating and they are not always the same ones that contribute forces. Therefore, each year it is decided which allies contribute aircraft or ships the following year.
Defense offered to deploy a fighter detachment in Lithuania for four months in 2022 (as it did last year and on seven previous occasions) and to provide two frigates, a supply ship, a minesweeper and a Maritime Action Ship (BAM), for successive periods, to NATO fleets. In addition, he offered to send another fighter detachment to Bulgaria, as he did in 2021 for two months in Romania. All these contributions must be approved by the Council of Ministers, since they are financed by the Treasury from the Contingency Fund and not by the Defense budget.
Spain is one of the countries that contributes the most to the EU and NATO missions. In this way, according to diplomatic sources, it neutralizes criticism of its low defense spending (it is at the bottom of the Alliance, with 1% of GDP) and demonstrates its solidarity with the allies in Eastern Europe, waiting to receive reciprocal support in case of problems on the southern flank.
Participation in each specific mission is voluntary and depends on the availability and military capabilities of each ally but, in the end, it is a political decision. Proof of this is that Spain, with a battery of Patriot missiles, is the only participant in the NATO mission on the Turkish-Syrian border, which makes it win points against Ankara. What Spain, or any other ally, could not do is not participate in any operation or inhibit itself if a NATO partner invoked article 5 (mutual defense commitment), but this is not the case now.
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After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, NATO’s permanent fleets dedicated themselves to guaranteeing the security of the Mediterranean in the face of the jihadist threat. However, after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, they have been operating more and more frequently in the Black Sea. For this reason, although the agreement of the Council of Ministers does not detail his voyage, it was easy to suppose his destiny. The only change has been that the NATO Military Committee, meeting on an extraordinary basis, has decided, as a preventive measure, to reduce the recruitment times of its reaction force and complete its fleets with all the ships offered, which has forced anticipate the departure of Blas de Lezo.