Banca March: With 287-55 votes, the Turkish parliament has voted in favour of the Nordic country’s membership, pending President Erdogan’s final signature. Unanimous support from the member states is required to become a member of the organisation, with Hungary now being the only country not to have given its approval. Sweden aspires to become the 32nd member since it applied to the alliance a year and eight months ago, with…
Spain will boycott a meeting of NATO defence ministers with the defence industry on Thursday in protest at the Alliance’s decision not to invite any of Spain’s leading firms. Minister Margarita Robles, who will be in Brussels for a meeting with her 30 colleagues at NATO headquarters, will be absent from the room when the meeting begins, however, as she is very upset about the selection of companies, the opacity…
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will finally receive the President of the United States, Joe Biden, this Tuesday at the Moncloa Palace. This will be with a view to staging what the Executive has endeavoured to ensure is a solid bilateral relationship after the failed meeting a year ago that ended in a brief chat lasting barely 30 seconds. The US president is travelling to Madrid for the NATO summit, an…
For the first time, NATO identified China as a security risk to the alliance, while the G7 leaders took Beijing to task for both its aggressive moves in the South China Sea and its human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. They also agreed to set up an infrastructure partnership to counter China’s Belt and Road.
By Israel Rafalovich | Things have changed on the international political stage, and the European in particular, that gives the European Union an unprecedented opportunity to mould and shape its own military and foreign policy in a way that makes it possible for the EU to deal with crisis on the European continent and elsewhere without American interference.
Nick Ottens via Atlantic Sentinel | Top military officers are exerting increasing influence in Donald Trump’s administration and causing some to wonder if it’s the start of an American junta. But nobody really expects John Kelly, James Mattis and H.R. McMaster to attempt a putsch.
Nick Ottens via Atlantic Sentinel |US President Donald Trump ‘s big mouth has failed to impress the world. And that is dangerous. At some point, the American might feel he needs to make good on his threats.
Xavier Colás (Moscow) | Although NATO is an alliance based on the sum of military power, emotions count for something in the day by day of the organisation. For the Russian president, NATO is another of the US’ foreign policy tools, where there are no allies “but just vassal states”.
Someone like Donald Trump emerging on the world stage threatens to make too many changes in the status quo, some of which will have a particular impact on Europe’s economies and especially Spain. One area which appears likely to progress at a cruising speed in the short and medium-term is Defence spending. This is a particularly sensitive issue and one which Obama already tried to have modified during his mandate.