After U.S. Threatened to Suspend Spain's NATO Membership, Italian Prime Minister Urges NATO to "Stay United"

Italian Prime Minister Meloni reiterated today at the EU leaders' summit held in Cyprus that NATO must "stay united." This came after media reports surfaced alleging that the United States had threatened to suspend Spain’s NATO membership. Meloni stated: "I believe NATO must remain united—it is our strength."

Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez said on Friday he was not "concerned" about these news reports. Speaking in English during the opening of the EU leaders’ summit in Cyprus, he emphasized: "Spain is a reliable partner in NATO, and we are fulfilling our alliance obligations."

Since late February, the Spanish government led by Prime Minister Sanchez has consistently opposed the U.S. and Israel’s potential war against Iran. This firm stance has angered U.S. President Trump, who criticized Madrid for refusing to allow U.S. military forces to use military bases in Andalusia, Spain, for airstrikes—and even threatened to "halt" all trade between the two countries.

Recently, media reports indicated that the United States is considering suspending Spain’s leadership role within NATO. However, the founding treaty of NATO signed in 1949 contains no provisions allowing for the suspension or expulsion of any member state.

Additionally, President Trump criticized Spain for failing to fulfill an agreement reached last year at the NATO summit in The Hague, which committed Spain to increasing its defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035—of which military expenditure alone should account for 3.5%. Madrid argues that maintaining defense spending at 2% of GDP is sufficient to meet NATO’s military capability targets.

Trump’s criticism of NATO for not supporting a war against Iran, along with his earlier threat to seize Greenland from ally Denmark, have underscored the need for the EU to clarify its mutual assistance clause.

Cypriot President Christodoulides stated that EU leaders unanimously agreed at Thursday evening’s summit that it is now time to strengthen the NATO agreement. The European Commission will draft a roadmap detailing how the EU would respond if a member state activates Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty—the mutual assistance clause. Unlike NATO’s Article 5, the collective defense treaty regarded as the cornerstone of European security, the EU’s mutual assistance clause lacks detailed operational plans or military infrastructure support.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1863371275580484/

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