It has gone from 685 troops to over 1,600 during the first half of the year
MADRID, 12 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spain has increased by a thousand troops deployed in NATO missions during the first half of the year, coinciding with the start of the invasion of Ukraine and the increase in deterrence missions on the eastern flank of the Alliance to deal with the Russian threat.
The Armed Forces began the year with a deployment of 685 soldiers in the different international operations of the Atlantic Alliance. And in the month of June, that figure exceeded 1,600 soldiers after gradual increases, according to data from the Ministry of Defense.
Although they do not only participate in deterrence missions on the border with Russia, the invasion of Ukraine was the trigger for this increase in troops in response to the call of the Baltic countries to increase ‘allied’ capabilities in their territories.
The mission that has registered the greatest increase has been that of Latvia, in which Spain has participated since 2017. The 350 troops deployed there grew to fifty in mid-March and this June they will reach 600 after the Defense decision to reinforce the mission with a missile battery.
This operation was born at the Warsaw Summit in 2016 after NATO’s decision to maintain a permanent presence in the Baltic countries to “prevent possible conflicts, protect allies and preserve peace and stability beyond the borders of the Alliance “.
The air police missions, in which Spain participates annually with three-month deployments of the Air Force, fall within this same framework. Its mission is the surveillance of allied airspace, with the dissuasion of aircraft, always Russian, that fly without complying with international plans.
The novelty this year has been the deployment for the first time in Bulgaria to monitor the sky of the Black Sea. A total of 130 troops with four Eurofighter combat aircraft traveled there. This operation was followed by a mission in Lithuania with eight F-18 fighters, the largest Spanish deployment in an operation of these characteristics.
But in addition, between August 22 and September 12, the deployment of four Eurofighters is planned in Amari, Estonia, in support of the German air detachment in that country and to carry out interoperability activities between German and Spanish Eurofighters. Spain thus culminates an unprecedented deployment of three aerial police missions in the same year.
This same Monday, the Navy’s ‘Sea Guardian’ frigate joins NATO’s ‘Sea Guardian’ operation, dedicated to combating terrorism in the Mediterranean and learning about the maritime environment.
Spain also has ships framed in the permanent naval groups of the Alliance in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, although at no time have they entered the conflict zone to avoid any ‘friction’ with Russia.
Finally, Spain is present in the NATO mission deployed in Iraq, which it aspires to lead next year, and has also maintained a Patrol anti-missile battery in Turkey since 2014, with a deployment of 150 troops.
