Germany has added Finland and 13 other NATO countries to the anti-missile shield project, among which Spain is not found because, according to Defense Minister Margarita Robles, it has not been invited. “When there is a proposal, we will study it,” Robles said in Brussels, where he attended a meeting with defense ministers of the Atlantic alliance.
In this context, the defense ministers of Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Great Britain joined the German initiative to create an anti-missile shield. . Central and Eastern European countries such as Spain, France, Portugal or Italy have not.
Thus, they signed a letter of intent with A European Sky Shield Initiative. The German-led initiative aims to create a European air defense system through the joint acquisition of air defense equipment and missiles by European countries. “This will strengthen NATO’s integrated air and missile defense,” the Atlantic alliance said.
“This commitment is even more important today as we witness Russia’s relentless and indiscriminate missile attacks on Ukraine, killing civilians and destroying critical infrastructure.” In this context, I welcome Germany’s leadership in launching the European Sky Shield initiative,” said NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, adding: “The new assets, fully interoperable and seamlessly integrated into NATO’s air and missile defenses, will significantly increase our defense capability. “Alliance against all air and missile threats.”
According to Robles, “this is Germany’s decision, which is considered unilaterally.” [si bien este jueves lo han firmado 14 países más]. Spain collaborates with Germany on several projects, but in this particular case we understand that our participation in the anti-missile shield of NATO is appropriate, without the fact that later, if a specific request comes that Germany has not been with us, we will take care of it. ”
Spain is sending more anti-aircraft defenses to Ukraine
“We had a bilateral meeting the other day with Germany and this issue was not raised with us,” Robles said before the initiative signed by 15 countries: “It has not been formally raised with Spain.”
Of course, Spain said today [por este jueves] New installment [cuatro] HAWK anti-aircraft defense launchers” for Ukraine, as reported by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, after Robles appeared before the press without being briefed on the news and thus avoided being questioned about it.
However, the German ambassador convinced Cadena Ser that there are “low-level” “talks” for Spain’s participation.
“The appalling indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities, civilian casualties, destroyed critical civilian infrastructure and, most importantly, attacks on energy infrastructure are serious as we approach winter,” the Norwegian told a meeting at NATO headquarters on Wednesday. “All this shows the urgent need for more anti-aircraft defense of Ukraine.” We need different types of anti-aircraft defense: short, long-range, ballistic missile systems, cruise missiles, drones, different systems for different tasks. And then, of course, Ukraine is a big country, it has a lot of cities, so we should be able to help Ukraine protect even more cities and territories from Russia’s terrible attacks against civilians.”
“Remote Use of Nuclear Weapons”
The NATO secretary general also said that the use of nuclear weapons by the Atlantic alliance in response to a hypothetical Russian nuclear attack on Ukraine is “remote”.
That same Thursday morning, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said: “Any nuclear attack on Ukraine will trigger a response, not a nuclear one, but a military response so strong that the Russian army will be destroyed. Putin cannot be bluffed. It should be clear that those of us who support Ukraine, the European Union and its member states, the USA and NATO are not bluffing either.”
“The fundamental purpose of NATO’s nuclear deterrence is to maintain peace, deter aggression and prevent coercion against NATO allies,” Stoltenberg said: “The situations in which NATO might use nuclear weapons are extremely remote. Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous, reckless, and they know that if they use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, there will be serious consequences. They also know that a nuclear war cannot be won and should not be fought. ”
According to the NATO Secretary General, “There will be serious consequences if Russia uses nuclear weapons, any kind of nuclear weapons, against Ukraine. And this is what Russia knows, which its NATO allies have communicated to it in various ways. And we won’t discuss exactly how we will respond. But, of course, this will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict. This means that a very important line has been crossed.”
Stoltenberg explained that NATO members will continue to provide “munitions, weapons and also, of course, air defense systems, partly to protect their forces, critical infrastructure, but also to protect civilians.” I believe that the Ukrainian commanders know how to use the various air defense systems that we provide. In recent days we have had announcements and deliveries from countries such as the United States; Germany, which recently announced that it has delivered an advanced air defense system; Or Spain, which announced today [por este jueves] New supply HAWK air defense launcher; and France, which announced more anti-aircraft defenses in Ukraine, as did the Netherlands and many other countries.
Source: El Diario
