interview
Lieutenant General Juan Montenegro, Spanish Military
Representative to NATO and European Union Military
Committees (MILREP - SP)
“NATO and the EU are two
sides of the same coin:
OUR SECURITY”
MILREP highlights Spain’s unwavering commitment to
both organizations and emphasizes that we are the biggest
contributor to EU missions and operations.
JUAN Montenegro is un-doubtedly
one of the most
knowledgeable persons
about how NATO and
the European Union are
responding to the security challenges
of the 21st century and the role Spain
is playing in both organizations. He
is an Army Lieutenant General and
has served, among other positions, as
advisor to the Chief of Defence Staff
during the 2002 Spanish Presidency
of the EU Council; as EUROCORPS
HQ Deputy Chief of Staff Operations
in Strasbourg; and has commanded the
HQ NATO Rapid Deployable Corps
Spain (NRDC-ESP) DCOS Opera-tions
in Betera (Valencia). From these
posts he has participated in some of
the most important international exer-cises
in recent years, such as Trident
Jaguar 2014, in which Spain certi-fied
the first land headquarters capa-ble
of planning and conducting joint
operations; or Brilliant Jump 2016, in
which the Very High Readiness Joint
Task Force (VJTF) was certified. He
has been Spain’s representative to the
highest EU and NATO military bodies
for the past year, a position from which
he affirms that the European Union
should be “a true global actor with stra-tegic
autonomy”, although this must be
done “in an environment of collabora-tion,
integration and maximum coop-eration
with the Alliance”.
—What exactly is your mission as
Spanish MILREP?
—As Representative of the Defence
Chief of Staff to NATO and EU Mil-itary
Committees, my main responsi-bility
is to look after our national in-terests
in these organizations so as to
optimize our Armed Forces’ contribu-tion
to the State’s external action. In
particular, my job is to report to the
Defence Chief of Staff on the matters
dealt with and the decisions adopted in
the military committees, in close coopera-tion
with the Permanent Representations
in the North Atlantic Council and the
European Union Political and Secu-rity
Committee, in order to present to
them Spain’s military perspective and
keep abreast of the political stance on all
issues regarding security and defence.
We also carry out technical-military
studies and projects in the military com-mittees,
such as the recently adopted
NATO Military Strategy, agreed upon
after difficult negotiations and signed by
the Defence Chiefs of Staff in May 2019.
This is a fundamental document that
will guide the development of every new
concept as well as the military posture of
the Alliance.
—How do NATO and the EU coordi-nate
decisions on a political level and
implement such decisions at military
level?
—In the case of NATO, the Atlantic Coun-cil’s
decisions in any of its formats (Prime
Ministers, Ministers or Ambassadors
Permanent Representatives) are set
out in documents whereby tasks and
missions are always assigned through
the Military Committee to NATO force
“The
Mediterranean,
Africa and Latin
America are
strategic priorities
for Spain”
46 Revista Española de Defensa April 2020