Secretary of State Marco Rubio questions the benefit of the U.S.’s alliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during an interview aboard Air Force One with FOX News’ Sean Hannity.
Secretary Rubio criticized NATO partners’ refusal to allow the U.S. to utilize their military bases amid the current conflict in the Middle East.
“When you have NATO partners denying you the use of those bases. When the primary reason why NATO is good for America is now being denied to us by Spain as an example, then what’s the purpose of the alliance?”
Secretary Rubio argued that the U.S.’s partnership with NATO becomes baseless when partners choose when they want to assist the U.S.
Secretary Rubio also affirmed that not all NATO countries have been unhelpful, citing Portugal, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria as prime examples of supportive allied partners.
“Others, like Spain,” on the other hand, “have been atrocious, just horrifying,” Secretary Rubio stated.
“So, I do think there’s some very legitimate questions to ask about NATO, and that is, what is the purpose of being an alliance whose benefit to us is these basing rights, if in a time of conflict, like the one we’ve had with Iran, they can deny us the use of those bases?” Secretary Rubio posed.
“Why are we there for? Only to protect them, but not further our national interest? This is a very legitimate question that we need to address.”
Secretary Rubio’s interview with Hannity comes after Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares asserted Spain’s commitment to international law by refusing to allow the U.S. to use its Rota and Moron air bases for the war in Iran.
“We were one of the very few countries that sent troops to help the United States to become a nation and to get independence,” Albares said, according to a report from Politico. “We want the relationship [with the U.S.] to move forward in the same way, but we won’t renounce our principles.”
Relationship Between U.S. and ‘Deadbeat Spain’ On the Brink of Collapse
Relations between the U.S. and Spain appear to be on the brink of collapse, not only as a result of the Iberian nation’s refusal to grant the U.S. basing rights, but also for its refusal to pay its debts.
Previous reports from The Floridian revealed Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, refuses to pay two Florida-based energy companies commissioned by the Spanish government to develop the country’s renewable energy infrastructure.
The Sánchez government is claiming immunity through the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), but the U.S. Supreme Court and other international courts have agreed that they still must honor the payment.
The Spanish government’s actions have led to increased scrutiny among federal lawmakers, including Florida-based officials such as gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds (R), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R), and Rep. Brian Mast (R).