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UKRAINE

Spain to bolster NATO’s eastern flank with 14 jets

Spain on Saturday said it would send 14 fighter jets to Bulgaria and Romania to bolster NATO's eastern flank as the defence alliance strengthens its deterrence capacity following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Published: 23 October 2022 09:33 CEST
Spain to bolster NATO's eastern flank with 14 jets
A Spanish Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon II aircraft at Graf Ignatievo airbase near Plovdiv, Bulgaria on February 21, 2022. Photo: Nikolay DOYCHINOV/AFP

Spain on Saturday said it would send 14 fighter jets to Bulgaria and Romania to bolster NATO’s eastern flank as the defence alliance strengthens its deterrence capacity following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Madrid will send six Eurofighter jets and 130 soldiers to Bulgaria between mid-November and early December to train local forces, the Spanish defence ministry said in a statement.

It added that a further deployment will see eight F18M fighter jets and 130 air force personnel sent to Romania between December and March 2023 as part of NATO’s “reaction and deterrence” strategy.

A long-range aerial surveillance radar has also been deployed in Romania since October 17 and could remain until late June 2023, the statement said. 

Spain will also increase its air force’s missions forming part of an “aerial shield”. The country has already sent 12 fighter jets to eastern NATO members Bulgaria, Lithuania and Estonia since Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbour in February.

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UKRAINE

Spain against deploying EU troops to Ukraine

Spain on Tuesday said it was against any deployment of European troops in Ukraine after France's Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out sending Western soldiers.

Published: 27 February 2024 15:47 CET
Spain against deploying EU troops to Ukraine

“As to whether we are in favour of deploying European troops to Ukraine, we’ve already made our position clear and we do not agree,” said government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría.

“We must concentrate on the most urgent thing, which is to speed up the delivery of (military) equipment” to Kyiv, she said, saying “unity” was Europe’s “most effective weapon” against Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Macron triggered a shockwave late on Monday by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

“There is no consensus today to send ground troops… but nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war,” he said.

He refused to say more about France’s position, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity” but saying the issue was mentioned among the options”.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was quoted as saying some EU and NATO members were weighing the option.

“Many people who say ‘never, ever’ today were the same people who said ‘never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles’ two years ago” when Russia invaded, said Macron. “Let us have the humility to note that we have often been six to twelve months late.”

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also rejected the idea of European or NATO countries sending troops to Ukraine.

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