NATO has put pressure on Madrid again
El Pais reports that the Spanish Foreign Ministry has left Russia's unanswered request for the entry of two Russian warships into the port of Ceuta in northern Morocco. It is stated that a large anti-submarine ship “Vice Admiral Kulakov” and Altai rescue tugs planned to visit.
POINT “Vice Admiral Kulakov” Photo: ru.wikipedia.org
The Spanish Ministry of Defense received a request from Moscow, but the document was handed over to diplomats, “ taking into account the political nature of the decision, & # 39; & # 39; writes a letter.
The daily states that Russian ships have regularly stopped in Ceuta in the last decade in accordance with international agreements. However, the United Kingdom has reportedly started making claims because its naval base in Gibraltar is nearby.
The foreign ministry reportedly wanted to issue a permit to the Russians in the hope of helping the city's economy “severely punished by a pandemic and the closure of the border with Morocco.” El Pais writes that in recent years, each sailor has spent an average of 300 to 400 euros when his ship entered port. However, the department also feared an international conflict, so it requested additional information from the Russian Federation – about the next ship route. According to sources, the Russian army did not provide classified information, so Madrid decided to refuse.
Ceuta Photo: ru.wikipedia.org
A previous conflict over Ceuta and Russian ships erupted in 2016, when Spanish authorities, under pressure from NATO, refused to agree to refueling for a group of Russian aircraft carriers led by an aircraft carrier. Admiral Kuznetsov. It was then announced that Moscow had not waited for an official response from Madrid and had itself changed its voyage plan with the end point of the route in Syria.
Experts then told the Ministry of Culture that this démarche was by far the first on the part of the Spaniards … army.
After the scandal in 2016, Russian ships did not enter Ceuta for more than two years. It was not until November 2018 that the Spanish media reported that the local authorities intended to resume permitting Russian ships to enter the port in order to replenish water and food supplies.