Webinar Armed forces - Report

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE
ARMED FORCES IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS
WEBINAR REPORT
Brussels, Belgium
2 June 2020
102 SPE 20 E I Original: English | June 2020
NATO''s Parlamentariske Forsamling 2019-20
NPA Alm.del - Bilag 35
Offentligt
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1. On 2 June 2020, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) held its second webinar
as part of the NATO PA’s response and adaptation to the COVID-19 crisis. Lieutenant
General Fernando Lopez del Pozo*
, Commander of the Spanish Joint Operations Command
and in charge of Operation Balmis (the mission of the Spanish armed forces in the coronavirus
crisis) addressed close to 90 Assembly members and parliamentary staff and engaged in lively
discussions with them.
2. After the World Health Organization declared a state of worldwide pandemic on
11 March, the response accelerated in Spain. At the time, Spain had registered more than
2,100 infected people and 47 deceased. On 14 March, the Government of Spain declared a
state of emergency across the whole Spanish territory, which included a general lockdown.
Operation Balmis was established on the same day, and, on 15 March, the Spanish Armed
Forces began to deploy.
3. To deal with this crisis, the Spanish government established a managing system
composed of four leading ministries: the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Transportation,
and Health, with the latter in the lead. Within the Ministry of Defence, the command and control
structure was based on an existing standing structure, designed for the conduct of daily military
operations but tailored to the specific operation by adding the Military Emergency Command
and the Defence Health Service Command. This process was quick and straightforward, as
the core of the structure had already been tested and trained.
4. The hectic early days of the Operation witnessed the headquarters liaise with all relevant
authorities, working along four basic principles: assess, offer, response, and help. Lieutenant
General Lopez del Pozo’s intent was clear from the beginning: to offer Spain the best-possible
assistance to mitigate suffering and preserve the safety and well-being of all Spanish citizens.
Four possible lines of intervention were early identified and put into action:
• the necessary contribution to the police forces,
• support to other authorities with transportation needs,
• disinfection of assorted facilities, and
• support to the national health system through, for example, the deployment of field
hospitals.
5. The Spanish armed forces carried out different tasks in direct support to the police forces
in tasks of presence, border control, and surveillance of critical national infrastructure. In this
context, they reached over 2,200 different locations in Spain. Intense air transportation of
personnel and medical supplies was carried out, with 16 strategic international flights and more
than 50 domestic flights.
6. The Spanish armed forces carried out an invaluable effort to disinfect different facilities,
including a number in excess of 5,200 homes for the elderly. They also helped shore up the
national health system by providing medical care in the hospitals of the armed forces and by
providing psychological and nursing personnel. A little less than 3,400 medical and
administrative personnel were transferred to the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and
Social Welfare. One final commitment came in the deployment of field hospitals, with 16
deployed in 14 cities. In total, almost 180,000 service personnel had deployed and participated
in Operation Balmis at the time of the webinar (79 days).
7. Although still ongoing, Operation Balmis had been generally successful in attaining its
objectives and have had positive side effects. A wide media coverage resulted in the Spanish
* While the meeting was held under the Chatham House rule, Lieutenant General Fernando Lopez
del Pozo subsequently waived the rule for the purpose of this summary.
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armed forces’ reassurance of their citizens, who witnessed how useful their military services
had become when needed at the home front. The support given by the Spanish armed forces
to the national health system proved invaluable in preventing its collapse.
8. Since the beginning of Operation Balmis, Spain’s Armed Forces maintained its
contribution to the government’s main efforts and keeping commitments abroad. This crisis
confirmed, Lieutenant General Lopez del Pozo stressed, how relevant, valuable, and,
sometimes, irreplaceable, the role of the military tool in emergencies could be. Armed forces
were able to support civilian institutions and governments across different domains dealing
with a health crisis, including security, transportation, and health support.
9. Spain was not alone in this fight, he underlined. On 23 March, Spain put forward a
request to Allies through NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre
(EADRCC). Help was sent from different Allied nations, and for that Spain was extremely
grateful, he said. Help was also offered to Spain by non–NATO countries, most notably from
Japan. Support from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) was also sought
and found. Through this agency, the armed forces’ logistic services were able to find
contractors to bring in medical materiel from Denmark and China. Allies also cooperated in
strategic transportation to and from overseas deployments, both in support of Spain as well as
Spanish support to other Allies.
10. Lieutenant General Lopez del Pozo expressed his gratitude for Allied support. He also
argued that NATO showed itself slightly slow in its initial reaction, but, once sparked, it proved,
once again, its adaptability and the strength of multilateralism. It had become apparent that
agencies such as the EADRCC and NSPA were useful. There seemed, though, to be room for
improvement in other areas, such as a possible system to allow for information exchange on
military response to a crisis – a system that would allow for effective prioritisation and for
adequate coordination of support. Information in this system should include stock levels of
those critical items in this kind of emergencies.
11. Furthermore, he concluded that in this crisis, Spain continued its support of operations
overseas. Security paved the way for both political and economic development, he said, and
military operations outside national borders enabled national security. He highlighted that, now
that NATO countries were facing the economic fallout in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis,
security should remain paramount for the Allies. Lieutenant General Lopez del Pozo cautioned
that the economic impact of the crisis on the armed forces should be mitigated. This would
help prevent health crises turn into security crises and improve NATO’s overall resilience.
12. During the questions and answers period, members asked the Lieutenant General about:
• lessons learnt for intelligence services in predicting such crises;
• the capabilities of the Spanish armed forces in their support of their domestic health
sector;
• the impact of and reaction against disinformation campaigns during the pandemic;
• the lessons learnt by the armed forces;
• the effect on the miltary’s public perception;
• cooperation between NATO and the EU during this and future health crises; and
• the practical cooperation between the military and health institutions, especially
hospitals.
assistance in
13. Lieutenant General Lopez del Pozo focused, inter alia, on:
• strengthening the anticipation of intelligence services;
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• the lack of medical capabilities in the Spanish armed forces;
• the value of NATO bodies such as the NATO Support and Procurement Agency
and the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence; and
• building upon successful civil-military cooperation during this crisis.
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APPENDIX 1 – ATTENDANCE LIST
NATO PA BUREAU MEMBERS
President Attila MESTERHAZY (Hungary)
Vice-President Osman Askin BAK (Turkey)
Secretary General Ruxandra POPA
MEMBER DELEGATIONS
Albania Mimi KODHELI
Belgium Annick PONTHIER
Canada Leona ALLESLEV
Cheryl GALLANT
Mohamed-Iqbal RAVALIA
Brenda SHANAHAN
France Jean-Marie BOCKEL
Jean-Jacques BRIDEY
Philippe MICHEL-KLEISBAUER
Gilbert ROGER
Greece Mariori GIANNAKOU
Italy Paolo FORMENTINI
Luxembourg Semiray AHMEDOVA
Lydia MUTSCH
Montenegro Branimir GVOZDENOVIC
Poland Marcin MYKIETYNSKI
Portugal José Luis CARNEIRO
Romania Vergil CHITAC
Slovakia Ludovit GOGA
Spain Zaida CANTERA
Xavier CASTELLANA
Turkey Kamil AYDIN
Utku CAKIROZER
Muhammet Naci CINISLI
Ahmet Berat CONKAR
Omer Faruk KILICKAYA
Kamil Okyay SINDIR
Ahmet YILDIZ
United States Filemon VELA
NON-PARLIAMENTARY OBSERVER
Radboud (Rad) VAN DEN AKKER, NATO Affairs and Security Policy (NASP), Political Affairs
and Security Policy Division (PASP), NATO HQ
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