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NATO summit host Spain wants to focus on security in the south

#NATO #summit #host #Spain #focus #security #south

Spain is lobbying for NATO to pay more attention to security threats on its southern flank when the military alliance gathers for a summit in Madrid later this week.

But as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth month, the priority for Spain’s NATO allies remains deterring Russia in the east.

When NATO leaders meet in Madrid on June 28-30, they are expected to review the Alliance’s Strategic Concept, which outlines its key security missions and challenges but has not been revised since 2010.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has urged NATO to expand its scope to help deal with non-military threats such as “political exploitation of energy resources and illegal immigration” in Africa.

“The threats come from both the southern flank and the eastern flank,” he said at a press conference in Madrid on Wednesday.

Madrid is also concerned about lawlessness and violent Islamist movements in the Sahel, a vast area stretching across southern Sahara.

“We have this war in Europe, but the situation in Africa is really worrying,” said Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles.

The problem is particularly acute for Spain, a major gateway into Europe for irregular migration from Africa and a country dependent on Algeria for gas supplies.

Last year, Morocco allowed thousands of migrants into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta during a diplomatic crisis over disputed Western Sahara, prompting Madrid to accuse Rabat of “blackmail”.

Although the two countries recently normalized ties after Spain ended its decades-long position of neutrality on Western Sahara to publicly support Morocco’s stance, the migration crisis is not over.

Around 2,000 African migrants attempted to storm the border with Melilla, the other Spanish enclave on Morocco’s north coast, at dawn on Friday. At least 23 died in the incursion, making it the deadliest incident on the borders of the two Spanish enclaves – the only borders between the EU and Africa.

And earlier this month, Morocco’s archrival Algeria suspended a cooperation deal with Spain in response to Madrid’s about-face in Western Sahara.

– ‘Hard fight’ –

But with active conflict on NATO’s eastern flank, it will be “an uphill battle” to persuade member states to engage on the southern flank, said Sinan Ulgen, a NATO expert at the Brussels-based think tank Carnegie Europe.

“The war in Ukraine changed the equation. The threat from Russia has become the main concern for almost all countries,” the former Turkish diplomat told AFP.

In Washington, US national security spokesman John Kirby said “the focus right now is on the eastern flank.”

“But there remains an ongoing effort to ensure we also pay attention to the south flank,” he added.

In an interview published by Spanish daily El Pais on Saturday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would “intensify (its) cooperation with southern countries,” noting Mauritania in particular.

In addition to Russia, Washington is primarily concerned with China, which is likely to be mentioned for the first time in NATO’s strategic concept.

To convince its NATO allies, Spain has sounded the alarm at the growing presence of Russian mercenaries in African countries like Mali and the Central African Republic, arguing that the instability could increase African migration to Europe.

Madrid have also hinted that Russia is behind Spain’s recent diplomatic row with Algeria.

“Unfortunately, the threats from the south are increasingly Russian threats from the south,” Albares said.

– Various agendas –

Ulgen said another difficulty is that while other southern European nations want greater NATO engagement in Africa, they have different priorities, making it difficult to define a common Alliance-led strategy.

“Rome, Paris, Madrid, Ankara still assess the political and security challenges differently. That’s the fundamental reason why there isn’t more pressure for a bigger NATO role in the southern flank,” Ulgen said.

Additionally, many senior US politicians believe NATO should focus on territorial defense, not unconventional threats, said Angel Saz, director of the Center for Global Economics and Geopolitics at Spain’s Esade Business School.

“And the only threat to territorial defense is Russia. The Sahel can destabilize Europe, but it will not conquer Spain or Italy,” he said.

Spain has “perhaps put too much emphasis” on calls for a greater NATO role in the southern flank and “risks missing out on that,” he added.

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