European nations are increasingly exploring alternative security arrangements in response to recent criticism from the United States and threats to withdraw from NATO, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares (main image) said on Tuesday.
Tensions have risen following Europe’s refusal to deploy naval forces to secure the Strait of Hormuz after the outbreak of the US–Israeli war on Iran on 28 February. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated he is weighing a potential exit from the alliance, raising concerns about NATO’s future. ALSO READ: Sánchez: Spain will not join Trump’s Board of Peace, preferring UN-led multilateralism.
Albares stressed that any decision on membership ultimately rests with Trump, while reminding that European allies stood firmly with Washington after the 11 September 2001 attacks. ALSO READ: Trump suggests Spain should be ‘thrown out’ of NATO due to low defence spend.
‘NATO is a mutually beneficial alliance for both Europeans and Americans … But the US administration’s remarks and new positions on Euro-Atlantic security are inviting us Europeans to take a leap in terms of our sovereignty and defence matters,’ Albares told La Sexta TV channel.
‘We must take our citizens’ security and dissuasion into our own hands,’ he added.
The minister said this shift would require the European Union to move towards a pan-European army, while also strengthening coordination across defence industries. He added that broader economic integration — including a digital single market and a capital markets union — would be key to underpinning Europe’s strategic autonomy.
Spain’s left-leaning government has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the war on Iran, describing it as illegal and reckless. Madrid has shut its airspace to US aircraft involved in the strikes and barred them from using shared military bases in southern Spain. ALSO READ: Spain blocks its airspace to US military flights linked to the war in Iran.
In response, Trump has threatened to impose trade tariffs on the country. ALSO READ: Trump vows to ‘cut off all trade’ with Spain over Iran stance: ‘We don’t want anything to do with Spain’.
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La situación en Líbano es crítica, con más de 1 millón de desplazados y la destrucción de infraestructuras civiles. Líbano merece poder vivir en paz y seguridad.
España va a seguir apoyando al gobierno libanés y sus esfuerzos para desarmar a Hezbollá.
En @DebatAlRojoVivo pic.twitter.com/XF1XErE9ce
— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) April 7, 2026
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