Spain suspended from NATO because it opposes the war in Iran? His Prime Minister says he has no “concerns”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said this Friday, April 24, that he had no “concerns” after the publication of an article from the Reuters agency evoking ongoing reflections in the United States to possibly suspend Spain from NATO in retaliation for its opposition to the war against Iran.

No article of the founding treaty of NATO, signed in 1949, provides for the suspension or exclusion of a member of the Atlantic Alliance, at the center of numerous criticisms of Donald Trump since his return to the White House more than a year ago.

Present in Nicosia, Cyprus, for a summit of European Union leaders, Pedro Sánchez was questioned about information according to which Washington would consider suspending Spain’s participation in positions of responsibility within the Alliance: “Spain is a reliable partner within NATO and we fulfill our obligations (…) So, no worries,” he said in English.

“We do not work on the basis of e-mails (who according to Reuters would mention these reflections in Washington), we work on the basis of official documents and positions that the United States government formulates,” he also said in Spanish. While continuing: “The position of the Spanish government is clear: absolute cooperation with our allies, but always within the framework of international legality. »

Questioned about this press information, the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni, for her part, called on NATO to “stay united”, one of its “assets”. Donald Trump, for his part, did not react immediately.

Strong stance on Middle East war

Since the end of February, Pedro Sánchez has opposed the war led by the United States and Israel against Iran, becoming the spearhead of the voices raised in the West against the hostilities which have engulfed the Middle East.

This firm stance greatly irritated American President Donald Trump, who criticized Madrid for refusing to let the United States use military bases located in Andalusia to carry out air attacks, going so far as to threaten to “cease all trade” between the two countries.

For several months, the Republican billionaire has also accused the Spanish government of refusing to increase its security spending to 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, including 3.5% for military spending alone, as agreed at the Alliance summit last year in The Hague (Netherlands). Madrid believes it can achieve the military capacity objectives set by NATO, by limiting its military spending to 2% of its GDP.

Pedro Sánchez is also one of the few high-ranking Western leaders to have described the war waged by Israel in Gaza after the Hamas offensive in October 2023 as a “genocide”.