Drones, shields… and GDP: NATO meets with the US threat to Spain in the background

NATO will reinforce the defenses of its eastern flank against Russian incursions into allied airspace, as well as new mechanisms to militarily support Ukraine, in the first meeting after threats from the president of the United States, Donald Trump, due to the lack of investment in defense.

The meeting of allied defense ministers comes in the midst of a crisis in Estonia or Romania, in addition to incidents in critical infrastructure such as airports in Denmark, Germany or Norway. In this context, NATO will redouble its air defense mission to respond to the new drone threat that Russia uses to violate allied skies.

In this sense, the allied ministers will review the recent operation, launched in summer to counter Russian incursions, so that it is effective in “eliminating threats” from drones and unmanned aircraft, with the view that the response must be adequate and “not kill flies with cannon shots”, allied sources point out, regarding shooting down UAVs with more expensive anti-aircraft capabilities such as fighters. or anti-aircraft missiles.

Eastern Sentinel consists of a military reinforcement mission with which NATO will deploy additional forces in this area, including fighters like those committed by Spain but also sensors and anti-drone weapons to detect, track and destroy drones, which make them more disturbing.

It is in this context that NATO defends its presence on the eastern flank and its ability to confront this threat, in the face of the steps taken by the European Commission to launch a European project that at headquarters limits to a simple announcement from Brussels. “I don’t know what an anti-drone wall is, it’s just an idea,” says a consulted source.

Thus, in the Euro-Atlantic alliance they defend their “solid deterrence and defense posture” by land, sea and air on the eastern flank and reiterate that each organization “focuses on the unique advantages it can offer.”

Harassment and demolition?

The air raids have also raised debate about the effectiveness of NATO’s rules of engagement and interception in the face of Russian threats. Although there are no plans to change the rules of the game, which according to the sources consulted are clear and involve shooting down aircraft that do not respond to contacts and are a threat, headquarters are debating whether to make protocols more flexible and lift certain national restrictions, as in the case of American-made fighters, to speed up the response to threats.

The Secretary General of NATO himself, has insisted that the response to the Russian incursions must be “proportionate” and has assured that shooting down any aircraft is a sign of “weakness.” “We are much stronger than the Russians. We do not have to shoot down Russian planes because they enter our space, only if they enter our airspace and pose a threat,” he stressed.

Thus, the former Dutch Prime Minister believes that if the incursions do not pose a threat, “being much stronger than the Russians, it is much more forceful that our reaction is what it is.”

Allied sources express along the same lines, insisting that NATO will continue to maintain its reactive position in the face of security threats and “will not cast the first stone” despite repeated Russian incursions into allied airspace. “We are not going to start shooting down Russian fighters,” he summarizes.

We buy Trump, we help Zelensky

The meeting of allied defense ministers will be a new opportunity to show support for Ukraine in the context of Russian aggression and discuss bilateral issues within the NATO-Ukraine Council. On the table are new mechanisms to keep support for the Ukrainian Army on the battlefront high, such as the .

In summer, NATO put on the Ukraine Priority Requirements List (for its acronym in English), a mechanism that establishes a priority list of weapons, missiles and anti-aircraft defenses and that Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Canada have currently used with a combined value of 2 billion.

In the eyes of Washington, this is the way in which European allies can help Russia sit down to negotiate an agreed solution to the conflict, although countries such as Spain, as well as France, Italy or the United Kingdom do not plan to join this mechanism.

“If Ukraine wants to have what it needs to defend itself, the quickest and most concrete way that allies can help is by investing in PURL. This program is vital, and allies must step forward and contribute now to pressure Russia to come to the negotiating table and accept peace,” urged the US ambassador to NATO, in a meeting with the press before the meeting.

The summit of NATO ministers also comes at the doorstep of the meeting between Trump and his counterpart, in the midst of the debate on the possible supply of fuel with which kyiv could carry out deep attacks on Russian soil as Moscow persists in its attack on the neighboring country and the hostility has not ceased despite the meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska last August.

“The possibility of a deep attack could change Putin’s calculations. It would put many things at risk, including an important energy infrastructure within Russia. The war and the slaughter must end, and for this it is necessary for both parties to sit down at the table and negotiate an agreement,” said the North American ambassador, in favor of increasing the pressure for Russia to abandon its “maximalist objectives.”

The echoes of the threat to Madrid

Likewise, the meeting at the allied headquarters in Brussels will be the first time that the defense ministers of Spain and the United States meet after Trump’s threats to expel Spain from the organization for its . Although the North American ambassador has not influenced Trump’s idea, he has reiterated that “all allies”, “including Spain”, must increase spending to the 5% of GDP agreed upon at the summit of allied leaders in The Hague.

There are no “exceptions or reservations” to the pact, Whitaker stressed, reiterating that “the 32 allies accepted the same agreement” at the summit held in the Netherlands. At this meeting, Spain gave its approval after receiving from the allied Secretary General, Rutte, more flexibility to meet the capacity objectives, without sticking to a specific figure.

On Spain’s side, they reiterate that these commitments can be achieved by dedicating only one to the military budget and defend that Rutte’s “interpretative” letter allows Spain to detach itself from the 5%.

In any case, Spain’s position is not well considered by the rest of the allies and Trump again pointed out the Government of Pedro Sánchez last week. Although now its ambassador does not enter into the hypothesis of expelling Spain from NATO if it does not comply with the 5% bar and Trump alluded to the discrepancies with Spain at the peace summit held this Monday in Egypt in which he noted that both countries “will get closer” regarding investment in defense.