Spanish soldiers on the eastern flank

In Vilnius, at the conclusion of the Atlantic Alliance summit on the 12th, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, told reporters that Spain is going to substantially increase the presence of its soldiers on the “east flank” of NATO. So the combat battalion in Romania is going to send 250 more soldiers, and in Slovakia it is going to deploy another 700 soldiers with the ambition of leading a brigade in the region whose details will be designed in a Force Generation Conference held by the chiefs of staff.

These announcements have been formulated avoiding making any reference to article 17.1 of the Organic Law 5/2005 of National Defense, according to which “in order to order operations abroad that are not directly related to the defense of Spain or the national interest, the Government will carry out a prior consultation and obtain the authorization of the Congress of Deputies”.

Section 2 of that same article provides that in missions abroad that, in accordance with international commitments, require a quick or immediate response to certain situations, the prior consultation and authorization procedures will be carried out through emergency procedures that allow compliance with said commitments.. And still section 3 of the aforementioned article insists that in those cases when for reasons of utmost urgency it is not possible to carry out prior consultation, the Government will submit to the Congress of Deputies as soon as possible the decision that it has adopted so that it can be ratified, if applicable.

In other words, the decision to order operations abroad must be taken taking into account that:

1. It is not unipersonal of the president, but it is up to the Government to adopt it and it requires prior consultation and also to obtain the authorization of the Congress of Deputies.

2. If a quick or immediate response is required, due to international commitments, prior consultation and authorization from Congress will be processed through urgent procedures that allow them to be met.

3. If it were the case that reasons of the utmost urgency prevent prior consultation, the Government would submit to the Congress of Deputies the decision it had adopted as soon as possible so that, if applicable, it ratified it.

The call for general elections made by President Sánchez included, as is mandatory, the dissolution of the Chambers while a Permanent Deputation assumes its functions. However, we lack any news about the call of that Permanent Deputation whose agenda includes validating or rejecting Royal Decree-Law 5/2023, which must be processed within thirty days of its promulgation, that is, before July 28.. Nor do we know that it has been called to rule on the missions of the Armed Forces abroad to which President Sánchez mentioned on Wednesday the 12th in Vilnius.. Nor is there any known pronouncement from the loyal opposition headed by the Popular Party or by Sumar or subtract in such a relevant matter.. On the other hand, those who know it well assure me that these shipments of soldiers must be approved by the Government through a formal agreement in the month of December. We will see.