Sanchez Sidesteps Spain-US Dispute     04/24 06:05

   Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday refused to be drawn into a 
dispute with the United States over reports that the Pentagon is weighing 
whether to punish members of NATO that fail to support American operations in 
the Iran war.

   NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday 
refused to be drawn into a dispute with the United States over reports that the 
Pentagon is weighing whether to punish members of NATO that fail to support 
American operations in the Iran war.

   Among those in the firing line is Spain, which has refused to allow U.S. 
forces involved in the war to use bases on its territory or airspace. Spain 
says that U.S.-Israeli actions in the Iran war contravenes international law.

   France and the U.K. also refuse to give U.S. forces free rein to use their 
territory for the bombing campaign.

   The Pentagon is reported to be mulling whether to suspend Spain from NATO, 
according to an unidentified U.S. official referring to a U.S. Defense 
Department email, and quoted by the Reuters news agency.

   "Well, we do not work with emails," Sanchez told reporters at a European 
Union summit in Cyprus. "We work with official documents and positions taken, 
in this case, by the government of the United States."

   "The position of the government of Spain is clear: absolute collaboration 
with the allies, but always within the framework of international legality," he 
said.

   The email also suggested reassessing U.S. support for the United Kingdom's 
claim to the Falkland Islands, near Argentina, which are also known as Islas 
Malvinas.

   NATO staying out of the war

   NATO operates by consensus, and all 32 member countries must agree for it to 
act.

   The trans-Atlantic alliance's founding treaty has no mechanism for 
suspending or ejecting any of the members, although nations may leave of their 
own accord one year after notifying the other allies. As an organization, NATO 
has no direct role in the Iran war except to defend its own territory.

   U.S. President Donald Trump has been angered by what he sees as the failure 
of some NATO members to back American actions in the Iran war and to help 
police the Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route. He has questioned the purpose 
of U.S. membership in the military organization.

   EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas appeared perplexed by the U.S. 
criticism, given that the United Kingdom and France are leading an effort to 
help secure trade in the strait once the war is over.

   "When we have had contacts with the American counterparts, then actually 
their asks for us have been exactly what we are able to offer after the 
cessation of hostilities," she said. "Demining, escorting of ships, all of this 
that we have been discussing."

   But the United States has "long-standing arrangements and agreements with 
European allies on overflight, on basing" that should be respected, NATO 
Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said, in implicit criticism of some allies 
like Spain, but also France.

   While Spain restricted U.S. military activity related to the Iran war, U.S. 
warplanes have flown over other NATO allies' airspace and used U.S. bases in 
other NATO countries for war-related operations.

   Trump has even threatened to cut trade with Spain over its refusal to allow 
the use of its bases and airspace. More broadly, Spain has also disappointed 
its allies by failing to commit to spend as much as they plan to do on defense.

   Security without the US

   As the reality sinks in that the U.S. commitment to NATO and Europe's 
security under Trump has waned, the EU leaders debated how best to use European 
laws to come to each other's aid should one of them come under attack.

   Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, whose country holds the bloc's 
presidency until July, said that the leaders had tasked the European Commission 
to "prepare a blueprint on how we respond" should a member seek help under 
Article 42.7 of the EU treaties.

   It's only ever been used once, by France after the Paris terror attacks in 
2015.

   EU envoys and ministers are set next month to conduct "table-top exercises" 
to game out how the treaty article might be used, drawing on the bloc's 
military capacities, but also other assets not available to NATO, like trade, 
border and visa policies.