The command of the NATO mission that during the first six months of 2024 carries out “active reinforced surveillance” on Russian navy units in the waters of northern Europe has a Spanish seal. Operation Brilliant Shield of the Atlantic Alliance, which includes the frigate Almirante Juan de Borbón, is captained by Rear Admiral Joaquín Ruíz Escagedo, who this Monday received the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, in the port of Helsinki. A strategic location for NATO, which has doubled the extension of its land borders with Russia after Finland’s accession in April 2024.
At a time when all eyes in world geopolitics are looking towards the Middle East—waiting for Israel’s possible response to Iran after the attack in Tehran this past weekend—the central government has wanted to make visible that Spain continues to comply with its commitments to the Atlantic Alliance in the weak east, in the face of the threat from Russia. “A key piece,” the Ministry of Defense describes the Spanish contribution to NATO’s permanent naval groupings, which are the first to be activated in the event of a crisis. These missions – which include escort groups and minehunters – are the forces that provide a permanent maritime presence of the Atlantic Alliance in key areas such as the Mediterranean, Black and Baltic Seas, in addition to the northern flank and the southern corridor; from the Strait of Hormuz to the Suez Canal, including the Somali coast.
The mission’s General Staff, made up of 22 components, of which 17 are Spanish, is embarked on the F-102 frigate, which the minister boarded just after noon. Although there are a total of 227 people on board the ship, of which 32 are women, who are part of the ship’s crew. This NATO mission includes, in addition to the frigate Almirante Juan de Borbón, the German supply ship Rhoen, the Italian Luigi Rizzo, the Norwegian Otto Sverdrup and the French Normandie.
However, for practical purposes the bulk of the force is made up of the Spanish frigate and the German ship, since the Italian frigate operates permanently in the Baltic Sea under a bilateral agreement between Italy and Poland, the Norwegian one is docked in Bergen and the French is carrying out a separate program of activities, under national guidelines. For the Ministry led by Robles, the fact that the ship has been the only unit that has been integrated into the group since the beginning of the rotation – acting as a command ship – is proof of “Spain’s commitment to NATO.” ”.
Accompanied by the Chief of the Defense Staff (Jemad), Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, Robles received her Finnish counterpart, Antti Häkkänen, for a brief meeting in one of the ship’s rooms. A photograph that was practically unthinkable a couple of years ago, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when Finland—which, like Sweden—maintained a foreign policy of military non-alignment. Finnish priorities have changed to such an extent that in mid-March, the prime minister, along with another fifteen European leaders, signed a communication addressed to the European Investment Bank to urge it to improve financing in the security sector and defense for its correct alignment with the new priorities of the European Union.
Finnish society views the situation in Ukraine with enormous concern. They are, according to military sources, “very threatened” by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. With a relatively small population—and a navy to match—the Nordics think they will be the next to be invaded. Therefore, the simple military presence of the Northern Alliance in its ports, to contribute to its security, is a reassuring element. “Presence is what counts, that the Russians see us every day,” they explain from the mission command, which seeks to “avoid surprises” such as the sabotage of the Nord Stream. All of this, according to Jemad, is in some “ambiguous” moments that can become more complicated than “what we would all like.”
The Finnish Defense Minister has conveyed to Robles his gratitude for NATO’s presence in a country that shares more than 1,000 kilometers of border with Russia. “He has conveyed to us that the presence of the mission with the Spanish command contributes to deterrence; It gives them peace of mind and security, but they have enormous concern with the Russian border,” explained Robles in the frigate’s castle, from where he addressed the entire crew to praise the work they are doing “in these very difficult and complicated”, while emphasizing that Spanish support for Ukraine continues to be “total and absolute” from all points of view.
