Spain asks the US to abolish tariffs for being a "serious" partner in NATO



The Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, asked her US counterpart Mark Esper on Wednesday that her country raise the tariffs imposed on European products, including Spanish, as Spain is a "serious" and "reliable" partner in NATO and in defense policy.

"We have conveyed our concern about tariffs, which we believe are absolutely exorbitant, and that is why we believe that, in an area of ​​partners, in an area such as NATO, we ask the US to make an assessment, because we understand that these tariffs are not they correspond to what they should be, "Robles told reporters after meeting with Esper during a Alliance ministerial.

Robles highlighted in turn that "we are serious, reliable and responsible partners, that the Defense policy is a State policy, that for the Spanish Government the Defense of Spain is above any partisan positioning, it is a position in which all parties have to be. "

The Spanish minister thus referred to the tariffs that Washington has imposed on European agricultural products endorsed by a judgment of the World Trade Organization on illegal aid to the aeronautical giant Airbus.

Specifically, Robles asked the Pentagon chief for the "effort" to "abolish certain tariffs."

"At the same time, we are very aware that Defense policy is a policy of both bilateral and common frameworks, important to fight against the various violent movements in the world, especially in the Middle East, in Iraq and in Afghanistan. "he commented.

Robles said he posed to Esper "the need for the Kings' trip to Washington in April to be a success" and that "relations between the two countries" be maximized both in Defense and in the commercial sphere.

On the preliminary agreement reached by allied defense ministers today to strengthen their mission in Iraq to train Iraqi forces against the Islamic State (IS), on which they did not give closed details, Robles said that "the important thing is the political decision , which is to continue in that training mission, because it contributes to peace in the area. "

The plan is, with the agreement of the Iraqi Government, that coaches of the international coalition against IS go on to carry out this work under NATO, which will enhance the involvement of the Alliance in the fight against terrorism in the region, as it came demanding the US

"Spain has opted to continue in this case under the umbrella of NATO in union with the Iraqi Government, always with the fundamental objective that there be a firm and lasting peace in Iraq and that it can go against the threats of terrorism of Dáesh that remain in the area, "said Robles, who announced that Spanish troops in Besmayah will participate in the initiative.

The minister also transferred to the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, invited to the allied meeting, Spain's support for "all peace initiatives" promoted by the community club.

"He will have all our support and our support," he concluded.

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