The King presides over the commemorative act for the 40th anniversary of Spain’s accession to NATO at the Royal Theater in Madrid
A little over a year had passed since the 23-F coup d’état when Spain joined NATO on May 30, 1982. 40 years later, with the threat of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the eastern flank of Europe and a month that Madrid organizes the summit of the organization, the Government has wanted to solemnly commemorate the event with an act at the Royal Theater presided over by Felipe VI. The monarch has highlighted the mutual benefit that the incorporation of our country has meant for Spain and the other 30 partners of the Atlantic Treaty and has asked to fight without cracks “against the unacceptable Russian aggression”.
“In 1982, NATO welcomed a country that looked and looks North and South, East and West, which has always incorporated the Atlantic Ocean as part of its culture and its projection”, the King stated, before advancing that at the Madrid summit, NATO “must offer the answers that the alliance needs to face common challenges, such as a new strategic concept, the strategic concept of Madrid, for the next decade”.
Some 300 people were invited to the event, including former presidents Felipe González, José María Aznar and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero -Mariano Rajoy is the only living former chief executive who has declined the invitation- and the former NATO secretary general Xavier Solana. The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. Also the other leaders of the organization, starting with the current Jens Stoltenberg.
Sánchez has reiterated his commitment to double the Spanish defense budget (currently at 1.03% of GDP), and although he has not given figures, he has already explained on previous occasions that the objective is to reach 2% in 2030 at the most .
Absence of United We Can
The most notable absence has been that of the members of United We Can None of the five purple ministers but neither have leaders of the confederal group attended this Monday the commemorative act of the 40th anniversary of Spain’s entry into NATO
The decision to enter NATO was made by the centrist Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, from the now defunct UCD, with the opposition of the PSOE. Felipe González promised to submit the permanence in NATO to a referendum. And he complied. Although the consultation, held in March 1986, was no longer to leave, but to stay. What made Spain the first country to belong to NATO by popular decision thanks to 52% of favorable votes.
#Felipe #asks #NATO #unity #unacceptable #Russian #aggression