Margarita Robles stresses the unity of all EU countries to continue supporting Ukraine

The Minister for Defence, Margarita Robles, attends the meeting of European Union defence ministers in Brussels

The meeting was attended by EU Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Scherinska and Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal. In view of the current situation regarding the talks on a possible peace agreement, the meeting focused on the importance of not making peace without the Ukrainian people and the European Union.

Robles stressed the unity of all the countries to make this happen and gave Spain as an example, "which has been there from the very beginning and will be there for as long as necessary."

In this regard, the European defence ministers discussed capabilities to work together in this support. Spain will be present in five of them, giving greater prominence and impetus to the maritime domain, without forgetting contributions such as the SAFE programme or the PURL programme, which add up to more than 700 million euros to meet Ukraine's defence needs.

Margarita Robles also emphasised the need to reinforce not only the military capabilities identified, but also other strategic areas of dual use, such as cybersecurity and technological innovation.

The minister outlined the challenges facing the European defence industry, stressing the importance of ensuring that the investment drive is distributed fairly, supports the development of small and medium-sized companies, technological progress and the creation of skilled jobs.

Afterwards, the minister went to the residence of Spain's permanent representative ambassador to the North Atlantic Council, Federico de Torres, to preside over the presentation of decorations to civilian personnel on the 30th anniversary of the first major deployment of our Armed Forces in a NATO peacekeeping mission, the Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At the ceremony, Robles stressed the importance of these personnel in the continuity and safeguarding of Spain's interests in the EU and NATO.

Non official translation