The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that NATO’s new strategic concept will include the protection of the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the alliance’s member states as the organization’s main task.
According to newspaper Quoting sources, the inclusion of this principle (the protection of “sovereignty and territorial integrity”) in the strategic concept means that “the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, bordering Morocco on the coast of the African continent, will henceforth be under NATO protection.”
The document, which will become NATO’s roadmap for the next ten years, will be approved during a meeting of the heads of state and government of the alliance on June 28-30 in the Spanish capital.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an attack on any member of the alliance will be considered an attack on all allies. But this commitment is limited to the so-called Euro-Atlantic space, with the exception of Ceuta and Melilla. And the new strategic concept will change this situation. According to the publication, the decision to include the protection of “territorial integrity” in the document was a consequence of the situation around Ukraine.
In addition to conventional threats (including nuclear, chemical and biological), the NATO summit will highlight the need to combat hybrid threats: cyber attacks, disinformation, illegal immigration or the use of energy resources as leverage.
Source: TASS