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MILITARY

Spain’s Crown Princess Leonor to start military training

Spain's Crown Princess Leonor will begin three years of military training in September as she prepares to one day take the throne, the government said Tuesday.

Spain's Crown Princess Leonor to start military training
Spanish Crown Princess of Asturias Leonor to undergo military training. Photo: MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP

King Felipe VI’s oldest daughter, who turns 18 in October, will attend the
Spanish army’s General Military Academy in the northeastern city of Zaragoza during the 2023-24 academic year, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said.

The heir to the Spanish throne will then spend a year at a navy school in
the northwestern region of Galicia and a year at an air force school in the
southeastern region of Murcia, the minister told a news conference.

The Royal Palace believes she “must receive military training, as her
father his majesty the king did, and as is done in other parliamentary monarchies,” Robles said.

“In recent years we have made a significant effort to incorporate women in
the armed forces,” she added.

Princess Leonor is expected to complete two years at the UWC Atlantic
College boarding school in Wales at the end of May, graduating with her
International Baccalaureate.

If she follows in the footsteps of her father, she will attend university in Spain once she finishes her military training and then complete a masters
abroad.

King Felipe studied law at Madrid’s Complutense University and then obtained a masters in international relations at Georgetown University in Washington.

Spain’s Royal Palace said “it is a widely observed and shared tradition in
European parliamentary monarchies that future heads of state develop a military career.”

It recalled in a statement that under Spain’s constitution, Princess Leonor
will become the head of the armed forces when she ascends the throne.

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SPAIN AND UKRAINE

Spain to send patriot missiles to Ukraine

Spain will send US-made Patriot air defence missile systems to Ukraine, which has asked for more military equipment to resist Russian attacks, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Friday.

Spain to send patriot missiles to Ukraine

Madrid will supply “a set of long-range Patriot anti-aircraft interceptor missiles”, Robles told a ministerial meeting of the so-called contact group for the defence of Ukraine, the defence ministry said in a statement.

It did not specify how many missiles Spain would provide.

This month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO members that his country needed a minimum of seven Patriot or other high-end air defence systems to counter Russian air strikes, urging them to step up their military assistance for Kyiv.

European Union foreign and defence ministers vowed at a meeting on Monday to maintain their aid to Ukraine, but without committing to the delivery of air defence equipment.

Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares avoided answering repeated questions about whether Madrid would send Patriot units to Ukraine.

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