Margarita Robles attends meeting of the Global Coalition against ISIS

The Minister for Defence, Margarita Robles, attended a meeting of defence ministers of the Global Coalition to defeat the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which took place at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The meeting was attended by representatives of more than 40 countries belonging to the Global Coalition, and was hosted by the new Secretary General of the Alliance, Mark Rutte.

This meeting of defence ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, convened by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, addressed the status of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and its transition in the future, given the announcement in September 2024 by the US and Iraqi governments of the end of the military operation in Iraq, and the growing threat of the terrorist group in other geographic scenarios, in particular its strong expansion in the Sahel and West Africa.

Ministers were able to exchange views on the state of play in the fight to defeat ISIS, and were able to express their concern about the expansion of ISIS into new geographical areas.

Minister Robles made clear Spain's commitment to the fight to defeat ISIS in Iraq, a country she considered essential and a priority for stability and security in the region.

She expressed in particular the importance for Spain of countering the presence and expansion of ISIS in the Sahel, which she described as very worrying and a serious challenge to security in Africa. In response to this concern, she reported on Spain's leadership in coordinating capacity-building assistance to African partner countries in the Sahel and West Africa in the fight against ISIS.

Non official translation