The Russian attack on Ukraine is “the greatest challenge of our time,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on October 5th at the 25th German-Spanish government consultations in the northern Spanish port city of La Coruña. “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the German head of government continued, “is inviolable. The annexation of parts of Ukrainian territory is contrary to international law and of no value. For us it is null and void.”
“Together with our partners,” emphasized Scholz, “Germany and Spain will continue to support Ukraine in defending itself against Putin’s brutal war – diplomatically, financially and through the supply of weapons.” Both countries would also do so the BMVg will cooperate intensively in the training of Ukrainian soldiers in the planned EU support mission.
“We are doing this,” explained Scholz, “because we are united by the conviction that we want to leave the time of imperialism and the dark hours of the 20th century behind us. “We stand together for the idea of a Europe in which the dignity of the individual counts and not the desire for power of individual state leaders,” affirmed the Chancellor, alluding to the presidents of Russia and Belarus.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) added: “We work closely together on a bilateral level, also in NATO and of course also when it comes to the Strategic Compass in Europe.” This was launched during the German EU Council Presidency in 2020 and in March 2022 presented. In addition, the Spanish socialist continued, “we have a common vision to continue complementary cooperation with NATO.”
Armament cooperation
The German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) and her Spanish counterpart Margarita Robles (Independent) also discussed, among other things, arms issues on this occasion. Both countries have already worked closely together in the past, as can be seen from the examples of the Eurofighter “Typhoon” and the Airbus A400M. Germany and Spain are also cooperating on the multilateral future projects Eurodrone and FCAS (Future Combat Air System). Both countries are working together on a total of 114 European Defense Agency (EDA) projects.
However, the signals regarding arms exports coming from La Coruña are diffuse: On the one hand, both countries wanted to intensify their joint efforts in the field of arms export control at the European level, which sounds like more restrictions. On the other hand, for technologically and financially demanding projects, their refinancing through arms exports should also be clarified in order to be able to afford development and production.
Military cooperation
The operational cooperation between the German and Spanish armed forces is diverse. Only recently, their air forces and their respective Eurofighters jointly carried out the task of strengthening Air Policing Baltic States (VAPB) at the Estonian air force base Ämari. Another example: on July 1, 1994, just nine months after it was set up, Spain joined the multinational Eurocorps, which was based on the Franco-German Brigade.
Now in La Coruña, the two defense ministers signed an agreement in the area of arms control on the Treaty on Open Skies (OH) from 1992, which aims for Spain to participate in the Bundeswehr's Airbus A319OH observation aircraft. On the other hand, they agreed on further joint activities in NATO's Framework Nations Concept, including joint activities in the Multinational Medical Coordination Center MMCC and the European Medical Command EMC. In addition, Lambrecht and Robles agreed to cooperate within the NATO Response Force (NRF) for next year. Finally, on German initiative, a “structured dialogue” was established at the level of the state secretaries of the defense ministries of both countries during the bilateral government consultations - including personnel exchanges.
Editorial / gp
Related topics
European air defense launched Spain: Government wants to procure new Eurofighters Spain wants to modernize the Tiger attack helicopter Modernization of the Spanish CH-47D fleet Spain receives first CH-47F Light tactical off-road vehicle for Spanish special forces H135 for defense and internal security in Spain Establishment of a joint venture for the Spanish Piranha 40mm grenade launcher ammunition for the Spanish armed forces