The command of the NATO mission that during the first six months of 2024 carried out “reinforced active surveillance” of Russian naval units in northern European waters has a Spanish stamp. The Atlantic Alliance’s Brilliant Shield operation, which includes the Almirante frigate, is captained by Rear Admiral Joaquín Ruíz Escagedo, who on Monday received a visit from the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, in the port of Helsinki. At a time when all the eyes of global geopolitics are looking towards the Middle East, the central government wanted to make visible that Spain continues to fulfill its commitments with the Atlantic Alliance in this area.
The mission’s General Staff is on board the F-102 frigate, made up of 22 components, of which 17 are Spanish. On board the ship there are a total of 227 people, of which 32 are women, who are part of the crew. This NATO mission is made up, in addition to the Almirante frigate, the German supply ship Rhoen, the Italian Luigi Rizzo, the Norwegian Otto and the French Normandie.
However, for practical purposes the bulk of the force is made up of the Spanish frigate and the German ship, as the Italian frigate operates in the Baltic Sea under a bilateral agreement between Italy and Poland, the Norwegian frigate is docked in Bergen and the French a separate program of activities.
According to the ministry led by Robles, the fact that the ship has been the only unit that has been integrated into the grouping since the beginning of the rotation – acting as a command ship – is a sign of Spain’s “commitment with NATO”.
Accompanied by the head of the Defense Staff (Jemad), Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, Robles received his Finnish counterpart, Antti Häkkänen, to hold 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 – just like Sweden – maintained a foreign policy of military non-alignment.
Finnish priorities have changed and they look with great concern at the situation in Ukraine. According to military sources, they are “very threatened”. With a relatively small population – and with a navy in line with this demographic weight – the Nordics think they will be the next to be invaded. So the simple military presence of the Atlantic Alliance in its ports, to contribute to its security, is a reassuring element.
In mid-March the Prime Minister, together with fifteen other European leaders, signed a communication addressed to the European Investment Bank to urge it to improve financing in the security and defense sector aligned with the new priorities of the European union.
