Robles holds a videoconference with the Spanish contingent leading the advanced element of the Army Corps deployed in Slovakia.

The Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, visits NATO’s Rapid Deployment Headquarters in Bétera (Valencia)The Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, visits NATO’s Rapid Deployment Headquarters in the Valencian town of Bétera.

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The Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, visited NATO’s Rapid Deployment Headquarters in the Valencian town of Bétera, which includes officers from 13 nations under the command of Lieutenant General Luis Saéz Rocandio, and held a video conference with the contingent of this unit deployed in Slovakia.

Minister Robles, who travelled accompanied by the Army General Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army, Amador Enseñat, valued ‘Spain’s commitment to the North Atlantic Alliance, to peace and deterrence in the world, at a complicated and difficult time such as the one we are experiencing in the war in Ukraine’.

‘I have to say with great satisfaction that the work Spain is doing within NATO in all its missions is essential and very important,’ said Robles.

Robles also highlighted the international recognition of the Spanish military deployed on missions, recalling that they are held in ‘very high esteem’ as a professional and effective army.

The Spanish military in Slovakia,’ said the Minister of Defence after the videoconference, ’have very high morale and are fully aware that their work is essential for peace. As is, she added, ‘this NATO High Readiness Ground Headquarters (HQHQ) in Bétera, and the Valencian Community’.

As part of NATO’s deterrence and defence effort on the Eastern flank, the Rapid Deployment CG, which can lead a set of large units in high-intensity combat operations, has been designated as the IV WFC (Warfighting Corps) for times of crisis/conflict and is currently developing tactical planning in the areas of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Since March, 16 military personnel from the barracks have been permanently deployed to the Kuchyna base in Slovakia to liaise with national authorities and keep the national chain of command informed.

With the addition of three officers from Slovakia in July, this brings to 13 the number of nations participating in the headquarters: Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, the United States and Spain.

The Rapid Deployment Headquarters is the multinational part of NATO’s High Readiness Ground Headquarters (HQHQ) which Spain has at the ‘Jaime I’ Military Base in Bétera, also headed by General Rocandio.