(Nicosia) Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Friday he was not “concerned” after the publication of an article by Reuters agency mentioning ongoing reflections in the United States to potentially suspend Spain from NATO in retaliation for its opposition to the war against Iran.
Published yesterday at 5:14 p.m.
No article of NATO’s founding treaty, signed in 1949, includes provisions for suspending or excluding a member of the Atlantic Alliance, which has been the subject of criticism from Donald Trump since his return to the White House over a year ago.
Present in Nicosia, Cyprus, for a summit of European Union leaders, Pedro Sánchez was asked about reports that Washington was considering suspending Spain’s participation in leadership positions within the Alliance. He defended in English, “Spain is a reliable partner within NATO, and we fulfill our obligations.”
“So, no need to worry,” he added.
“We do not work based on emails (which, according to Reuters, mentioned these reflections in Washington, NDLR), we work based on official documents and positions expressed by the United States government,” he also stated in Spanish.
“The Spanish government’s position is clear: absolute cooperation with our allies, always within the framework of international legality,” he continued in Spanish.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, when asked about these press reports, urged NATO to “remain united.”
Donald Trump did not immediately respond. However, in an email to AFP, Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson noted that “as President Trump said, despite everything the United States has done for our NATO allies, they did not support us” during the offensive against Iran.
“The Ministry of War will ensure that the President has credible options at his disposal so that our allies are no longer paper tigers but instead play their role,” she added, without specifically commenting on Madrid’s presence in the Atlantic Alliance.
“Cease all trade,” said Sánchez has been opposing the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran since late February, becoming a leading voice in the West against the hostilities that have engulfed the Middle East.
This firm stance has greatly irritated Donald Trump, who criticized Madrid for refusing to let the United States use military bases in Andalusia for airstrikes, even threatening to “cease all trade” between the two countries.
For several months, Trump has also reproached the Spanish government for refusing to increase its security expenses as agreed during last year’s NATO summit.
According to Reuters, the Pentagon email mentioning Spain also discussed a possible shift in the American position regarding the Falkland Islands in response to British lack of support for the war against Iran.
A spokesperson for the US State Department told AFP on Friday that Washington remains “neutral” on the issue of the disputed sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago, which is the subject of a dispute between Argentina and the UK.
“We are aware of conflicting sovereignty claims between Argentina and the UK,” the spokesperson said, adding that the United States recognizes “the de facto administration of the UK” over the islands, without taking sides in this territorial dispute.
