Spain “will boycott this Thursday a meeting of the NATO Defense Ministers with the sector’s industry in protest at the Alliance’s decision not to invite any of our country’s leading firms. Minister Margarita Robles, who will be in Brussels for a meeting with her 30 colleagues at the headquarters, will nevertheless be absent from the room when that meeting begins, very upset by the selection of companies, the opacity of the criteria used and the lack of transparency.
Allied sources indicate that it is not a “serious” or “irreparable” shock but admit the anger of the Spanish Government, which is “deeply dissatisfied”, both for the main companies in our country being left off that list and for the lack of reaction from the cabinet of the secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. NATO is not the EU and the 31 hope that when one of the delegations is upset and protests, the team of the most responsible will do everything possible to solve it. And it has not been the case.
Executive sources explain that the situation has not gone and will not go further. In recent days, all possible movements have been made within the Alliance, but without going further, without mixing the minister or Moncloa. They want to record his anger, and that’s why Robles will get up and leave the chair empty, but that’s all. The secretary general’s team assures that Thursday is only the first of many meetings with the industry, which is now in a moment of close contacts precisely to increase production due to the demands generated by the war in Ukraine. And in those, without a doubt, there will be companies from the countries that now will not have representation. But in Madrid they consider that it is not enough or acceptable, and that the leaders should have been in the first.
“Several allies are not represented, but that is because it is a small event and there are both large and small companies.” With these words, the Norwegian politician has tried to take away the iron, adding that there will be more occasions of this type to advance plans to increase the arms production of the allies. But without clarifying the selection criteria or why it has been limited to that number.
According to diplomatic sources, 18 countries will be represented among those 25, with some of the largest being Germany, France or Turkey, but there are 13 allies who will not have theirs at the table. The discomfort in Defense is very high. They have stressed these days that our country, although it is in the queue in investment with respect to GDP, occupies much more prominent positions in absolute investment. That the Spanish army is the septic of the Alliance, the fifth that has the most participation in missions and deployments. And that Defense employs 50,000 people and is a sector that contributes 1.4% of GDP.
The meeting called with the large companies in the sector has political or image relevance, but it generates more doubts at the administrative level. There is a feeling in Brussels that it is publicity since NATO views with suspicion the birth and growth of the Europe of Defense, of the initiatives of the European Union, which has more economic muscle, regulatory power and the last word in many of the issues of public investment and state aid. And it is no secret at home that pressure from the United Kingdom, which is no longer part of the EU, has also been felt on this issue.
The Alliance, like the Union, are trying to strengthen their capacities and give guarantees to the industry so that it can meet the huge demand for weapons and ammunition caused by the war in Ukraine. The allies are helping kyiv with their arsenals, but they need more shells and replenishment of their stores. The companies are at maximum production and to make the necessary investment they ask for guarantees, contracts and facilities.
Spain has industry. It’s not the biggest, but there is. The problem is that historically there has not been a State or country strategy so that these firms would have the doors of the Alliance much more open. It is not something that can be improvised, especially in a historical moment like the present. That does not justify what they consider rudeness and lack of respect on the part of those responsible for the organization, but perhaps it does explain why they have not taken them into account or have felt enough pressure to rectify.
Last November, Canadian Wendy Gilmour was appointed Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment, the division responsible for facilitating the development and adoption of cutting-edge capabilities critical to “ensuring the Alliance’s ability to undertake the full spectrum of missions and operations “. In that list of companies present at the meeting on Thursday there will be a Canadian.
NATO’s attempt to increase contacts with industry to improve production comes at the same time that the European Union is looking for the best legal, economic and financial ways to boost military production, including a joint purchasing program and aid. The problem is that the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or the Secretary General’s own Norway are in the Atlantic Alliance, which are not part of the 27 and who see with more than discomfort that the efforts are made at the community level, since the idea in This environment is that it invests mainly or only in companies from the Old Continent.
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