No Legal Way To Suspend Spain From NATO, Officials Say As US Weighs Options
By Pietro Guastamacchia
(EurActiv) — NATO’s treaty does not provide any provision for the suspension of membership, an alliance official confirmed on Friday, after reports suggested Washington is looking at ways to suspend Spain.
According to Pentagon emails, seen by Reuters, American officials had explored options to suspend Spain’s membership in the alliance as a punitive measure over Madrid’s lack of support for US operations in the war with Iran.
NATO officials contacted by Euractiv are clear that such a measure is not foreseen under the alliance’s founding legal framework.
Since the beginning of the US-Israeli operation against Iran, European governments have shown reluctance to provide direct military support.
Spain has refused to authorise the use of its airspace and the jointly-operated military bases of Rota and Morón. Similar stances have been taken by other allied capitals, including restrictions imposed by Italy on its Sicilian base of Sigonella and by France on specific operational requests.
Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, stressed on Friday in Cyprus where he was attending a meeting of EU leaders, that Spain’s position is grounded in legal and institutional commitments rather than internal US communications. “We do not work on emails; we work on official documents issued by the United States,” he said.
Spanish EPP MEP and former NATO ambassador Pascual de la Parte also said such internal communication does not indicate an official position but told Euractiv that “what is clear is that they are not happy.”
Spain could still face retaliatory measures, the lawmaker said, such as the blocking of Spanish nationals’ applications for posts when they are renewed.
Asked by Reuters for comment on the email, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said that “NATO allies were not there for us.” He stressed that “the War Department will ensure that the President has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part.”
To increase pressure on London, the memo also reportedly included an option to reassess US diplomatic support for long-standing European overseas territories, such as the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean near Argentina and part of the UK’s overseas territories. Their sovereignty was the subject of the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
No comments:
Post a Comment