MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2021) Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke of updating the 1988 defense accord with the United States at a meeting with President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels on Monday.
"We talked about strengthening military ties between the United States and Spain. You know that we have a bilateral defense agreement signed in 1988, and the Spanish government intends to update this bilateral defense agreement," Sanchez said at a press conference broadcast by the 24 Horas tv channel.
The two also discussed the situation in Latin America, since Sanchez recently returned from Argentina and Costa Rica. In particular, they touched upon migration and "the economic situation in connection with the pandemic."
According to Sanchez, the conversation was short, as the politicians were asked by NATO organizers to proceed to a negotiating room. Given that reporters managed to see only the passage of Sanchez and Biden along the corridor, they concluded that the conversation was reduced to just an exchange of smalltalk and lasted less than a minute.
"We agreed to continue cooperation, work, and maintain contacts," the Spanish prime minister noted.
The 1988 Agreement on Defense Cooperation between the US and Spain, which allows Washington to utilize some Spanish military installations, has been revised several times. In 2015, the accord authorized a permanent US Marine Corps presence at Spain's Moron Air Base. The agreement also allows the United States to increase its personnel deployment at the site to 3,000 in case of emergency, and with Madrid's consent.
