Spain is ‘reliable’ NATO member, PM says after reported US ouster threat
NICOSIA, Cyprus: Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday stressed that his country was a “reliable member” of NATO, after a report the United States was considering trying to suspend it over its refusal to support military operations against Iran.
The Reuters news agency cited an anonymous US official as telling it that the Pentagon had outlined the suspension option in an email looking at ways to punish NATO allies that steered clear of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
The same email also suggested the UScould review its position on the Falkland Islands in retaliation for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s lack of support in the war.
“Spain is a reliable member within NATO” which is fulfilling all its obligations, Sanchez told reporters in English during a visit to Cyprus for an EU summit.
“As a result, I am absolutely not worried,” he said.
The Socialist leader added in Spanish: “We don’t work on the basis of emails, we work off official documents and the position that the United States government has set out in this case.”
There is no provision in the NATO treaty allowing for the suspension or expulsion of a member of the world’s most powerful military alliance.
Responding to a question about the Reuters report, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said the Defense Department “will ensure that the president has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part,” but did not provide further details.
