The pride grew hour by hour.

The Spanish hosts were not only satisfied with themselves, some even described the atmosphere around Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as "euphoric".

"We have achieved our national goals," said the socialist head of government on Thursday at the end of the NATO summit.

In parliament, his minority government fought for political survival, while Sánchez visibly enjoyed shining as a statesman on the international stage in the exhibition center on the outskirts of the capital.

The only shadow that fell on his grand entrance was the small Spanish flag that accidentally hung upside down in place on the first lap of the summit.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

  • Follow I follow

Hans Christian Roessler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid.

  • Follow I follow

The people in the Spanish capital are not only proud of the fact that the summit went so smoothly, but also of the "Madrid Declaration", as the new strategic concept was immediately called: Spain sees itself as the voice of the South in NATO.

In its policy document, the Atlantic alliance for the first time looks at the threats posed by Russia and China, as well as the threats to the southern flank, from North Africa through the Middle East to the Sahel zone.

NATO intervention in Mali?

In their first meeting, the heads of government approved the concept, which "contains all of Spain's concerns in black and white," wrote the newspaper "La Vanguardia" enthusiastically on Thursday.

Even King Felipe had advocated developing a strategy for the south, offering his country as a "bridge".

This was reflected in two paragraphs in the document in which NATO formulates its 360-degree approach, which also takes into account the challenges in the south.

On Thursday, a separate summit round dealt with these questions.

Mauritania, with whom Spain works closely in the fight against illegal migration, was a guest.

"Conflicts, fragility and instability in Africa and the Middle East have a direct impact on our security and the security of our partners," the new NATO document says.

North Africa and the Sahel are explicitly mentioned.

This situation offers "fertile ground for the proliferation of non-state armed groups, including terrorist organizations".

The fragile situation "contributes to flight and displacement and fuels human trafficking and irregular migration".

Spain finds its concerns in these words.

In Madrid, the Sahel is now considered the “epicenter” of global jihadism.

At the same time, concerns are growing about Russia's presence in Africa.

This is especially true for the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner group in countries like Mali and the Central African Republic.

With around 500 soldiers in Mali, Spain is the largest contributor to the European training mission EUTM.

In a radio interview on Thursday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares did not rule out NATO intervention in Mali "if that should become necessary".

Migrants as a means of political pressure

Above all, the explicit mention of migration and human trafficking was important to Pedro Sánchez after the recent incident in the Spanish North African exclave of Melilla.

Almost 2,000 migrants tried to cross the border fence to Spain last Friday.

More than 30 people were killed when Moroccan police officers stopped them.

Sánchez had been heavily criticized in Spain for blaming the main blame on the people-smuggling mafias and only regretting the deaths several days later.

Similar to Spain, other southern NATO members are concerned that a hunger crisis in Africa resulting from the Ukraine war will encourage even more migrants to head for Europe.

They could then also become part of the “hybrid” threats that NATO strategy is also about.

In May of last year, Morocco used migrants as a means of political pressure against Spain in the Western Sahara conflict: the Moroccan border police failed to stop 10,000 Moroccans who stormed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta - it was not the first time that the North African country had broken its cooperation with Spain stopped in the fight against illegal migration.