BRUSSELS, 15 Feb. () –
Denmark and Sweden have announced this Wednesday that they are joining the initiative for a European anti-missile shield coordinated by Germany, bringing the number of participants to 17, of which 15 are NATO members.
This initiative aims to jointly develop an air defense system with interoperable solutions, by facilitating the multinational acquisition and integration of a wide range of air defense assets.
In this way, the two Scandinavian countries join the commitment sealed in October for a multinational and multifaceted air defense, an approach that offers a “flexible and scalable way” for nations to strengthen their deterrence and defense in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Among the allies that have joined the project are Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and the United Kingdom.
For the moment Spain has not joined the anti-missile shield and last October controversy arose over whether Berlin had extended the invitation to the Spanish authorities. “It is a decision by Germany that is being debated unilaterally. We understand that our participation in the NATO anti-missile shield is appropriate without prejudice to the fact that if there were an express request, which has not been made, we would attend to it,” said the minister of Defense, Margarita Robles.
