Opening remarks

Spain is now contributing to our mission, in our assurance missions in the Baltic Sea. And as you mentioned, Spanish airplanes are taking part in the air policing of the Baltics. And Spanish Patriot missile defence systems are deployed in Turkey defending our ally Turkey against missile attacks. 

And Spain is also hosting missile defence ships at your naval base in Rota.  And last year, you also took part in the ending of our combat mission in Afghanistan.  That's a great example how you have been participating in Afghanistan for many years. And you continue to participate in Afghanistan by being part of the Resolute Support Mission. 

And later this year, Spain is going to host the Trident Juncture Exercise which is the biggest live exercise NATO has arranged or had for many, many years.  So this is an important contribution to the training and exercises of our forces. 

So Spain is doing a lot. And we thank you for your many contributions to our Alliance. This is especially important now; because the security challenge which we are facing is changing. And we are seeing new threats and new challenges emanating both from the East and from the South.  To the East, we see Russia with a more assertive behaviour; and Russia being responsible for aggressive actions in Ukraine violating international law.  And using force to change borders. 

The ceasefire in Ukraine seems to be holding.  And even though it remains fragile, the ceasefire and the Minsk Agreement is the basis for any negotiated peaceful solution to the conflict and the fighting in Eastern Ukraine.  Therefore, it is extremely important that the ceasefire is respected. And also that it's followed up by the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

And we have seen some withdrawal of heavy weapons. And I welcome that. But there is no sufficient monitoring of the ceasefire; neither of the withdrawal of the heavy weapons!  So the main focus now is that we have to support all efforts to have proper monitoring of the ceasefire which means that OSCE monitors have to have full access.  They have to have the security guarantees. And they have to have the information they need to do the job and be able to conduct the monitoring which is so essential for the implementation of the ceasefire and the Minsk Agreement. 

So we call for the full implementation of the ceasefire and the Minsk Agreement. And we call for all parties to make sure that OSCE monitors have full access to the area where they're going to do the monitoring. Then, I would like to underline that NATO does not seek confrontation with Russia. But Russia must respect its neighbours and their borders.  That's a pre-condition for a stable and a peaceful Europe. In addition to the challenges we see in the East, we also see challenges in the South. We see violence spreading in the Middle East and North Africa.  We see ISIL poses a direct threat to our security.  And it's inspiring terrorist attacks on our own streets here in Europe.

And this is why we must continue to work close with our partners in the region to keep our southern neighbourhood stable. And NATO stands ready to support Libya with advice and defence institution building.  We are already doing this in Jordan.  And we are assessing a request from Iraq to help them with improving their capacity, their capabilities to take responsibility for their own security by themselves. 

We are helping our neighbours to take better care of their own security. And by doing so, we can project stability without deploying our own forces.  And if our neighbours are more secure, then we will be more safe. And at the same time, NATO is adapting to the changes we are seeing in our security environment. And we are doing that by more than doubling the size of the NATO Response Force from 13,000 to 30,000.  And the reason why we are increasing the size and also the readiness of the NATO Response Force is that it will increase our readiness. And then we can deal with threats both from the East and from the South. 

We are also creating a new 5,000 strong Quick Reaction Spearhead Force. And next year, Spain will be the first Ally to lead this Spearhead Force.  This is a strong signal of NATO solidarity.  And it shows that Europeans are taking responsibility for their own security.  Because we cannot take our security for granted, security is the basis for everything we have, our prosperity, our values and our open societies. 

So Minister, I look forward to developing further the excellent cooperation between NATO and Spain.  Thank you. 

JOSE MANUEL GARCIA-MARGALLO (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain):  (SPEAKS IN SPANISH)

JENS STOLTENBERG: One of the most fundamental values of NATO is that we are an Alliance of 28 democracies. And therefore I actually think it is an expression that we are defending open democratic societies, that there are different assessments, different views, discussions going on in all NATO Allied countries.  And that's part of living in a democracy.  And what the people of... and the voters in Spain decide to vote in different elections I completely leave to the voters of Spain to decide; because that's the strength of our democratic society.

At the same time, I would like to underline that for Spain to be member of NATO is a way to make Spain stronger; but also a way to make NATO stronger.  And that's the importance of NATO is that we build on the very clear idea of protecting each other: One for all and all for one. This is good for the security of Spain. And this is good for the security of NATO and all NATO Allies. 

And NATO is the most successful alliance in history.  We have been able to provide security and peace to all our Allies for decades. And when we look to the South, we see threats; we see instability; we see terrorist attacks also taking place in our own streets.  And I know that 11 years ago Spain was attacked by terrorists. And many people died.  And we will always remember them. 

But a way of honouring and remembering them is also to make sure that we are able and capable to defend ourselves against attacks in the future.  And one of the responsibilities of NATO is to also do more when it comes to fight terror and the threats that are stemming from the South.

So therefore I very much welcome that Spain is member of NATO.  But Spain has been and is, as all of the NATO Allies member of NATO; because they want it by themselves.  No one is forced to be a member of this Alliance.

The exercise is a big exercise which will aim at many different kinds of threats.  And we have to be able to face many different kinds of threats also in the South, in the Mediterranean. 

And I think that the instability, the violence we see in North Africa just underlines the importance that Spain is part of an alliance; that we are doing exercises together, at sea, in the Mediterranean; because that strengthens our ability to defend all Allies against any threats, including Spain in the future.

JOSE MANUEL GARCIA-MARGALLO:  (SPEAKS IN SPANISH)

Q: (SPEAKS IN SPANISH)

JENS STOLTENBERG:  First of all, I think it's up to the European Union to decide how they've organised their cooperation within defence and security.  Second, I welcome any increased investments or efforts... in increasing the defence capabilities of European NATO Allies; because that will strengthen both NATO and of course the European Union.  So any increased investments, efforts to increase defence capacities, capabilities within European NATO Allies, I welcome that. 

But then I would also like to underline that it is important that everything the European Union does is complementary to what NATO is doing so we avoid duplications; because it is important that we use the full amount of resources we have: financial resources, personnel, all kinds of capabilities in the best possible way.  And we will not do that if we duplicate and do the same things in NATO and the European Union. So what we do has to be complementary and not a duplicate job!

JOSE MANUEL-GARCIA MARGALLO:  (SPEAKS IN SPANISH)

Q: (SPEAKS IN SPANISH)

JENS STOLTENBERG:

First, when it comes to the fight against ISIL, I very much welcome the Coalition which is now fighting ISIL and they're making progress.  This is not, as you said... correctly said, it's not a NATO operation; but all NATO Allies are in different ways contributing to the Coalition fighting ISIL.  Some participated in the air strikes; others supported the Peshmerga; others support with training and so on.  So all NATO Allies contribute; but it's not a NATO operation.

What NATO is doing is that first of all they're focussing on our main responsibility. And that is to defend all Allies. And that's the reason why we have the Patriot batteries in Turkey to augment and to help Turkey defend themselves against any missile attacks.  And therefore I always welcome what Spain is doing in deploying Patriot batteries in Turkey. 

Second, we are looking into or assessing the request which has come from the Iraqi government.  There has not been any decision yet.  But we are looking into how we can help the Iraqis improving, increasing their capacity of taking care of their own security. And that's about institution building.  It might be about defence reform.  It might be about training.  It might be about other ways of assisting, helping them.  But this exactly what we now are looking into, in close dialogue with the Iraqi government which has requested this kind of "assist and help" from NATO. 

JOSE MANUEL GARCIA-MARGALLO:  (SPEAKS IN SPANISH)