Spanish foreign minister says NATO needs to cooperate with Russia and China
Arancha Gonzalez Laya said the alliance should be firm with the two countries on hybrid threats, cybersecurity attacks and disinformation
NATO must be tough on Russia and China with regard to hybrid threats but at the same time the alliance must cooperate with Moscow and Beijing. This opinion was expressed by Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya in an interview published on Sunday in the newspaper La Vanguardia.
According to her, the June 14 NATO summit “redefined the risks and the actors.”
“Other risks, such as climate change, have been added to the classic military risks”, – the minister stressed. – “We will have to be very firm with China and Russia on the issue of hybrid threats, on the issue of cybersecurity attacks, on the issue of disinformation”, – argued González Laya.
“But at the same time, we should have a positive agenda with China on climate change”, – the foreign minister said. – “The question is not to define China and Russia as our new rivals, but to see what our relationship with them will be based on the risks. “We also need to cooperate with them”, – the minister stressed.
NATO leaders, following the Brussels summit, identified China as a potential threat to the alliance’s security for the first time ever. The NATO statement contained no new talking points on Russia, classifying it as a threat to NATO’s security, but acknowledging the need for a dialogue from a position of strength.
Spanish foreign minister says NATO needs to cooperate with Russia and China