NATO Secretary General praises Spain’s continued commitment to Alliance security
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday (12 June 2014) praised Spain’s continued investment in the Alliance shared security. “Our security is interconnected” he said, “and NATO faces more than one crisis, or one challenge. We face an arc of crises from the East to the South.”
He welcomed Spain’s specific contribution to the reinforcement of NATO’s collective defence as a result of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. “I appreciate very much that Spain has offered fighter aircraft and a number of ships to different maritime groups”, he said during his visit to Madrid, during which he met with the President of the Government, Mr. Mariano Rajoy Brey, the Foreign Minister, Mr José Manuel Garcia-Margallo and the Defense Minister, Mr Pedro Morenés.
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen welcomed Spain’s broad and active involvement in NATO’s operations in Afghanistan, as well as its leadership of NATO’s counter piracy mission off Horn of Africa and its co-hosting of NATO’s biggest live exercise in 2015, along with Italy and Portugal.
The Secretary General also encouraged Spain to look into increasing its defence spending once its economic situation so allows. “Because our security is the foundation for our prosperity”, he said.
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen also had an audience with the King of Spain Juan Carlos. They had a wide range discussion on current and future security challenges, as well as on preparations for the NATO Summit in September.