Spain: PM Sanchez meets NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, held a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the 40th anniversary of Spain’s entry into the Alliance on Monday.

As per the statement released by Prime Minister’s office on Sunday, the meeting has taken place at the country estate of Quintos de Mora in Los Yebenes, to the south of the Spanish capital, with Sanchez and Stoltenberg holding working meetings ahead of the forthcoming NATO Summit, which will be held in Madrid on June 29-30, as per reports.

Sanchez took it to Twitter, stating that, “Working weekend with Jens Stoltenberg, prior to the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Spain’s accession to NATO. Prepared to host the next NATO Summit, at a historic moment for the Alliance in defence of peace and security.”

The Monday’s ceremony will be attended by Sanchez, Stoltenberg and King Felipe VI of Spain.

NATO has currently thirty members- the twelve founding nations (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States), Greece and Turkey (which joined in 1952), the Federal Republic of Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017) and North Macedonia (2020).

According to Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, “any other European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area” may accede to this organization.

Spain joined the integrated military structure in 1999, and remains a trustworthy and reliable member, committed to the Atlantic Alliance and to the values it represents.

In Spain, the Combined Air Operations Centre Torrejón (CAOC-TJ) controls NATO airspace in the southern half of Europe.