Madrid summit's goal is to convey message of unity: Spanish premier

MADRID

The goal of NATO's Madrid summit is to convey a message of unity, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.

"I think the goal is clear and it is to convey a message of unity by the allies," Sanchez said in his joint statement with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the summit venue in Madrid.

"A message of unity from democracies that come together to defend democracy, values of freedom, political plurality, human rights and also of the defense for an international order has passed in rules," Sanchez said, referring to the rules of the UN and Washington Treaty.

"We will have the first summit in the history of NATO that has the major number of leaders of state governments," he said, adding that the meeting will also have the participation of partners from Asia-Pacific – Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand for the first time.

For his part, Stoltenberg told Sanchez: "This will be a transformative and very important summit, and you have provided the perfect the best thinkable, possible facilities for conducting this important NATO summit here in Madrid."

Thanking the Spanish premier for Madrid's contribution to the alliance, he said "this strong Spanish commitment to NATO is demonstrated with the fact that you are now hosting the summit."

Stoltenberg said the allies will agree on a new strategic concept that will be "the blueprint for NATO in a more dangerous and unpredictable world," as well as resolve to boost its high readiness forces.

In Madrid, leaders will endorse a 2022 Strategic Concept, which will set out NATO's joint positions, including on Russia and emerging challenges, and will address China for the first time.

The concept has been reviewed and updated approximately every 10 years since the end of the Cold War. The last one was adopted at the Lisbon Summit in 2010.

"We will agree on a comprehensive assistance package to Ukraine to help them uphold the right to self-defense, it is extremely important that we are ready to continue to provide support because Ukraine now faces a brutality, which we haven't seen in Europe since the Second World War," the NATO chief said.

He also expressed his hope to make progress on the accession of Finland and Sweden into the 30-member military alliance.

Sweden and Finland formally applied to join the alliance last month, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

But Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.

Stoltenberg has constantly said that Türkiye has "legitimate concerns" related to their fight against the PKK and other terror groups, and that the PKK is considered a terror organization by NATO, the EU, Finland, and Sweden.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people.