Spain Sends Frigate As First Spaniards Repatriated By Air Force

The Spanish Government has announced it is sending its most advanced warship, the frigate Cristobal Colón, to join a French led naval battle group off the coast of Cyprus to provide defence capabilities if requested by the European Union as the Iran War continues into its second week.

The Defence Minister, Margarita Robles said there, “there is a difference between attack missions and defence missions,” and pointed out in an interview on Ser radio, that Spain is a “strongly committed ally” to the United Nations, NATO, and the European Union.

She stressed that Spain will always stand with the European Union defending the basic principles of coexistence and peace, and if “the EU or EU members decide on missions to protect Cyprus,” the Government “will take it into account and assess it.” Less than two hours after these statements, the Government decided to send this frigate.

Robles refuted U.S. President Donald Trump when he repeatedly stated that Spain does not collaborate on defence issues, saying that Spain does so within the framework of NATO and presently has a Patriot missile battery in Turkey.

The deployment comes amid a standoff between the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez and the US President over Spain´s support for the Iran War.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, Sánchez said ‘Between allied countries, it is good to help when the other is right, but also to tell them when they are wrong or make a mistake, as is the case here. Relations between them should be guided by ‘loyal cooperation’ rather than ‘confrontation’.

The Spanish leader again condemned the military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran, describing them as an ‘extraordinary mistake’ and saying they were ‘not in accordance with international law’.

This week a Spanish Air Force aircraft landed in Madrid´s Torrejón Air Base carrying 172 Spaniards repatriated from the Middle East.

The A330 aircraft from the Spanish Air Force, which can carry around 250 passengers, departed from Oman. The vast majority of those on board were Spanish nationals. The flight also included citizens from other European Union countries, as well as several Latin American nationals and one Vietnamese citizen.

Around 3,000 of an estimated 30,000 Spanish citizens have been repatriated so far, with the government aiming to bring back ‘every last Spaniard who wishes to return’.

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