The Spanish Government will express its protest at the absence of Spanish companies at today's NATO meeting with representatives of defense industries blocking the approval of the new Defense Production Action Plan designed by the military organization to replenish arsenals, improve the interoperability of the different allied armies and supporting industries. This was stated today in Brussels by the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, after meeting this morning with the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, to convey to him first-hand Spain's discontent over this situation.
"Spain's position is that anything that is done in NATO, formal or informal, in relation to decisions on the defense industry must count on Spain," Robles stressed in statements to the press. "If NATO talks about an Industrial Production Action Plan, it is evident that Spain considers that as a serious, reliable, responsible, committed ally that it is and given the importance of the Spanish defense industry, Spain must be reckoned with and if it is not counts on it, we will not go to the meetings that are held and, as we have done, we will make our protest count by breaking the silence regarding this plan", the minister added, using the technical term for the decision taken by Spain not to allow the approval of this political decision. Spain is not the only country that has "reservations about the content of the plan", allied sources have explained.
"The Spanish defense industry cannot be left out of a meeting of this importance", emphasized Robles, despite the informal nature of the meeting, in which no decisions will be made. The Spanish delegation blames management problems for the 'oblivion' of the Spanish defense sector in today's allied forum and is confident that the situation will be resolved in future editions of this meeting, if there are any. "I hope that it will be an exception and that, from now on, everything that is done with the defense industry in NATO counts on Spain. I am sure that it will be like that", Robles concluded in a meeting with the press in the margins of the meetings that are being held today at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance, on the outskirts of Brussels, all focused on supporting Ukraine. Stoltenberg's goal is for the new Defense Production Action Plan to be approved by the leaders of the 31 allied countries at the summit that will take place on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius.
