Dimitris Kouimtsidis
SPAIN has withdrawn its request for help from NATO with regards to the COVID-19 crisis.
Last Wednesday the Spanish Government informed its NATO allies that it withdrew the request for help that it placed on March 23.
Although it hasn’t received even a tenth of the medical supplies it requested, the Spanish Government argues that it has managed to overcome the peak of the pandemic and that many of the supplies it needed last month have now been covered.
The letter says: “Spain, at this time does not require any additional help from NATO countries.
“We appreciate the invaluable aid received from our allies, but do not rule out needing help in the future, given the unpredictability of the virus.”
Spain was the second country after Ukraine to turn to NATO for help.
The Organisation however does not have any of its own supplies, so it acts as a messenger, asking its other member countries to assist.
Seven countries responded to the Spanish call for aid: Czech Republic, Turkey, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Luxembourg and Germany.
The most valuable donation came from Berlin, in the form of 50 respirators.
The German Government also offered to house Spanish patients in German hospitals, but Madrid declined the offer as it involved subjecting them to several hours of travel.
Although US President Donald Trump had promised aid to Spain, this in fact never materialised.
