Conclusions of the NATO Summit held in Madrid

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The NATO Summit in Madrid ended with an agreement to strengthen the Alliance’s capabilities. To this end, Member States’ representatives agreed as to the need to raise defence and security spending and investment.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Spain’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the IFEMA exhibition centre was the venue on 29 and 30 June for a major summit to set out the Alliance’s new strategy for the coming years and to address the security challenges arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the emergence of China as a global military power.

Chaired by Alliance’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, the meeting was attended by the leaders of the 30 Allied countries, including a visit by US President Joe Biden. Also present were the invited leaders of countries such as Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, as well as Sweden and Finland, both of whom are candidates for immediate membership.

At the three Atlantic Council meetings held, issues of paramount importance for the defence of allied countries were discussed, as was the new strategy regarding Russia in the wake of the conflict provoked by that country against Ukraine. Of particular significance for Spain were the debates about the strategy to tackle the new challenges in the southern Mediterranean and North Africa, which directly concern our interests.

At the Summit, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, had the opportunity to hold various bilateral meetings with leaders of some of the countries in attendance. Especially important was the meeting with the US President Biden, the first major such meeting between the two heads of government.

The first of the planned sessions addressed issues concerning the situation in Ukraine and the Alliance’s commitment to continue supporting that country’s defence against Russian aggression. The session was addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via videoconference, who insisted that the Alliance should maintain its assistance and continue to contribute materiel to the war effort. Other highlights of the day’s agenda were the outstanding aspects of the Madrid Strategic Concept.

The second session focused on the forthcoming integration of Sweden and Finland into NATO’s military structure, while the third and final session, scheduled for Thursday 30 June, covered the challenges of the ‘southern neighbourhood’, which is of particular interest to Spain. During this session, an agreement was signed to set up an innovation fund to make it easier to foster technological innovation and start-ups to make European defence more technologically competitive.

Finally, Jens Stoltenberg closed the Summit by publishing the main conclusions of the sessions and thanking the Spanish Government for its efforts in organising the event.

As a result of the commitment made by Alliance members to raise their national defence budgets, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that he will promote a progressive increase in Spain’s military spending, to reach 2% of GDP by 2029.

The Alliance’s operational capacity will be enhanced with a significant expansion of troops and deployment of assets to increase responsiveness and deterrence. The Allies commit to increase military spending and defence-related investments to tackle new types of hybrid threats, such as those arising from disruptive technologies, cyber-attacks and terrorism.

The organisation of the closure of Atlantic Alliance Summit was a success, once again putting Madrid in the international spotlight and projecting a positive image of our country at a global event.