US Destroyer for NATO Missile Shield Arrives in Spain
USS Oscar Austin DDG 79 at Rota Naval Base, Cadiz, Spain, Oct. 16, 2024. X/ @EFE_Andalucia
October 16, 2024 Hour: 9:20 am
Borrell expressed regret that the 27 EU countries have taken too long to agree on providing Ukraine with certain capabilities.
On Wednesday, a fifth U.S. Navy destroyer arrived at the Spanish naval base in Rota to become part of NATO’s missile defense shield.
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The USS Oscar Austin DDG 79, with 329 crew members, is the first of two additional destroyers that will be stationed at this Atlantic base, which is jointly used, according to the agreement signed by Spanish President Pedro Sanchez and U.S. President Joe Biden at the NATO Summit in Madrid in 2022.
Acting U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Rian Harker Harris; Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Africa, Stuart Munsch; and Admiral of the Spanish Fleet, Eugenio Diaz, presided over the welcome ceremony.
Shared by the Spanish and U.S. navies since 1953, the Rota base is expected to receive the sixth destroyer in 2025. The U.S. ambassador emphasized that this new ship will strengthen the “security umbrella” of the allied missile defense shield. The arrival of the two additional destroyers will create 400 civilian jobs in the area, with an economic impact of US$98 million annually, she said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, expressed regret that the 27 EU countries have taken too long to agree on providing Ukraine with certain defense capabilities. During the European Security and Defense Conference held in Brussels, he stressed that Europe’s security environment “has dramatically changed” due to the Russian operation and the Middle East conflict.
If the situation worsens, “involving nuclear facilities, oil production, or perhaps troops on the ground in the war in Lebanon, then Europe’s security situation would be truly dangerous,” Borrell pointed out, adding that Europe is “surrounded by an arc of fire from Gibraltar to the Baltic.”
Regarding the war in Ukraine, Borrell regretted that the European Union took so long to decide whether to supply Kyiv with fighter jets, Leopard tanks, or Patriot systems.
“Every time we increase the nature of our support, we spend months debating, only to end up doing what was originally proposed. And this is something I feel guilty about. We should have done the same thing faster,” he explained.
“If we had been more energetic from the start, providing Ukraine with the weapons we ultimately gave them, maybe the war would be different,” he commented, mentioning that there is now debate over whether to allow Kyiv to attack Russia within its territory with donated weapons.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE