US President Joe Biden has assured his country’s commitment to the defense of Europe and has emphasized that NATO must protect “every inch” of allied territory. Biden has expressed himself in these terms upon his arrival at the summit that the Alliance partners are holding in Madrid and before holding a bilateral meeting with the organization’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
The words of the president of the USA are interpreted as an accolade to the Spanish intention to clarify in the new Strategic Concept that is approved in Madrid, the protection under the NATO umbrella of Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish cities located in the territory of the continent African.
The situation of Ceuta and Melilla in relation to the Alliance is an issue that has raised many doubts, given that the Washington Treaty in its article 6 establishes the precise geographical limits protected by the Allied defense. Territories that, in the event of being attacked, would be protected militarily by all the partners.
That map includes the territory of any of the member states in Europe or in North America; the territory of Turkey and the islands under the jurisdiction of any of the allies situated in the Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer. According to this drawing, the two Spanish cities in African territory would be excluded.
Now, however, it is intended to specify in the new Strategic Concept, which will mark the orientation of the allies for the next decade, the principle of protection of the “territorial integrity” of the partners, which would fully affect Ceuta and Melilla, whose sovereignty Spanish is not in dispute.
The US president, upon his arrival at the meeting of allied leaders, insisted that NATO is at this time, with war at its doors and the multiple threats that hang over Western democracies, “more necessary than ever”.
In this sense, he welcomed the Turkish uprising against the upcoming accession of Sweden and Finland because with it, he said, the Alliance will be “stronger and more secure”.
He has also referred to the reinforced involvement of the US with European security and in this framework he has cited the intention of increasing the number of destroyers at the Rota base from four to six, as well as increasing the US military presence in Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia).
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