Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo appreciates Spain’s contributions towards NATO

Newswire

Kabul: NATO Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo this week appreciated the contributions of Spain towards NATO.
“Spain has been a steadfast NATO ally in Afghanistan for the last 20 years. An exemplary contribution to NATO’s efforts towards its Afghan partners,” he tweeted.

Spain became the 16th member of NATO on 30 May 1992, and in March 1986, after a consultative referendum which resulted in a victory of the option to remain within it, it started to participate in all the committees and working groups, with the exception of the military structure.
The Spain’s full accession to the alliance’s integrated military structure took place on 1 January 1999; however, its General Headquarters were not fully operational until the September.

For more than 35 years, Spain has been a reliable, loyal and committed ally of the Atlantic Alliance, and is actively engaged in political dialogue, in the development of the allies’ defence capacities and the Alliance’s operations. It has always been as such, even at times of budget austerity. Spain is the 7th largest contributor to the common budget of the Atlantic Alliance, and Spain’s defence budget is the 8th highest in absolute terms among its allies.

Spain is one of the countries that has made the greatest effort both in the Eastern and Southern flanks, to ensure that NATO is able to respond better to challenges and threats, regardless of their origin and location. Spain provides a number of high-quality military capabilities, and is one of the allies with the largest presence in international missions.
Relations between Spain and NATO and the other allies are good. From the point of view of foreign policy, Spain works in the Atlantic Council to ensure that its interests are taken into account, especially regarding the Southern Flank.

Spain combines its action in NATO with active involvement in the Common security and defence policy (CSDP), within the framework of the European Union . As highlighted by the EU Treaty of Lisbon, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, for those States which are members of it, remains the foundation of their collective defence and the forum for its implementation.

The 21st century alliance, as stated through successive Summits, is still one of the pillars of Spain’s and Europe’s security structure. Spain welcomes the dialogue and practical cooperation that have taken place in the past between NATO and the EU, and the Spanish Government encourages maintenance of the efforts in that sense, and highlights above all that the more we can reinforce the Union’s security and defence scope, the better we will be reinforcing NATO and its European pillar.