NATO Vows to Protect All Allied Territory, Including Spain’s Ceuta and Melilla

The document renews NATO’s explicit commitment to defend "every inch" of the territory of each of its members and its determination to "preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all allies against any aggressor". Even if the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla are not expressly mentioned in the document, they should benefit from this NATO assistance in case of attack or aggression, as long as they are considered part of Spanish territory, analyzes La Razon.

According to Article 5 of the treaty, the member states of the Alliance will respond collectively to any armed attack against the territory of one of them. The following article specifies that this military aid will only be provided to member states in Europe or North America, or in the insular territories in the north of the Atlantic. This geographical specification no longer exists in the new strategic document which guarantees that all military and non-military means will be used in a proportionate, coherent and integrated manner to respond to all security threats.

Spanish sources welcome the consideration of the defense of territorial integrity in the new document that will be in force for the next ten years. For his part, Pedro Sanchez is convinced that he would obtain NATO’s help in case of a threat to Spain’s territorial integrity in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has assured that the two autonomous cities will benefit from NATO protection in case of attack.