Spain will boycott a meeting of NATO defence ministers with the defence industry on Thursday in protest at the Alliance’s decision not to invite any of Spain’s leading firms. Minister Margarita Robles, who will be in Brussels for a meeting with her 30 colleagues at NATO headquarters, will be absent from the room when the meeting begins, however, as she is very upset about the selection of companies, the opacity of the criteria used and the lack of transparency.
According to diplomatic sources, 18 countries will be represented among the 25, with some of the largest from Germany, France and Turkey, but 13 allies will not have theirs at the table. The unease in the Ministry of Defence is very high. In recent days they have stressed that Spain, although it is at the bottom of the list in terms of investment in terms of GDP, occupies much higher positions in terms of absolute investment. The Spanish army is the seventh largest in the Alliance, the fifth most involved in missions and deployments. The Ministry of Defence employs 50,000 people and is a sector that contributes 1.4% of GDP.
