Defense Minister Margarita Robles applauded this Wednesday that NATO has “focused on the southern flank” in its new strategic concept, which is being approved these days at the Summit being held in Madrid. “Spain has highlighted the importance of the Mediterranean”, she stated before analyzing the situation in Africa and its impact on world security.
In an interview in La Hora de la 1 from IFEMA, Robles highlighted the “humanitarian drama” of the continent, where in countries like Somalia a part of the population “literally starves to death”.
“Another perfectly identified phenomenon is the expansion of jihadist fundamentalism in the Sahel zone”, has gone on to list security risks as well as “Russia’s extension into Africa”. The minister has also referred to the “illegal immigration”a problem “the result of hunger, misery, organized mafias and the radicalism that exists”.
“Margarita Robles, about what happened in Melilla: “There are pockets of people wanting to get here. Behind them there are organized mafias and that is what needs to be stopped. And everything that sheds light on what has happened so terrible is welcome”#LHMargaritaRobleshttps://t.co/nVKurq16H3 pic.twitter.com/UntygzwLdl“
– The Hour of 1 (@LaHoraTVE) June 29, 2022
After the jump to the Melilla fence from Morocco, in which 23 sub-Saharan migrants died, according to official figures, the minister has once again insisted that there are mafias behind it that must be stopped. “Everything that is to clarify what has happened so terrible, is welcome,” she added regarding the investigation that the Prosecutor’s Office has opened.
For all these reasons, he has called for evaluating the situation on the southern flank -previously neglected in favor of the east- and for action: “Africa is an essential focus for security in the world.
Asked about the change that this entails for Ceuta and Melilla, Robles assured that the protection of the autonomous cities is already so guaranteed as is that of Zamora or Madrid, while the Atlantic Alliance defends the “territorial integrity” of all partner countries. “There is no doubt that the defense of territorial integrity includes Ceuta and Melilla”, he settled.
“Margarita Robles: “Africa is an essential focus for security in the world and it is a focus that requires action at this time (…) It cannot catch us off guard”#LHMargaritaRobleshttps://t.co/nVKurq16H3 pic.twitter.com/HabV8EBa7O“
– The Hour of 1 (@LaHoraTVE) June 29, 2022
Russia threatens “our values” of peace and security
Regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Robles stated that we are experiencing a “negative historical moment” and “one of the most difficult since World War II. since it poses a threat to the West. “Our values are threatened”, she has reiterated.
In this sense, it has also celebrated that Sweden and Finland “have set aside their neutrality”, when wanting to join NATO: “it is time for unity, to tell Russia that the countries are united and we defend values of peace and security”.
Thus, the minister trusts that the geopolitical changes push for greater military spending in Spain, although it has not specified whether it will increase to 2% of GDP, as the NATO countries promised and the United States has been demanding. “Investing in defense is investing in peace, freedom, security, but it is also investing in jobs”, she stated.
“Margarita Robles: “I think that all the members of NATO and the countries that, like Sweden and Finland, have decided to set aside their neutrality, are well aware that this is the moment for unity”#LHMargaritaRobles https://t.co/nVKurq16H3 pic.twitter.com/WwXW1qoVIB“
– The Hour of 1 (@LaHoraTVE) June 29, 2022
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