Nato envoy eager to forge closer Middle East ties

Nato is actively seeking to strengthen ties with Middle Eastern countries as concern grows over instability, the alliance's first special representative for the region, Javier Colomina, has told The National.

Speaking at Nato headquarters in Brussels before his first official visit to Cairo, Mr Colomina said discussions to shore up relations with the region had started last year but the Gaza war had given allies the necessary "political push" to step up regional engagement.

Mr Colomina, a former Spanish diplomat who in 2021 was appointed Nato's deputy assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy, has now been made the face of the alliance's diplomacy in the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel – regions where China and Russia are increasingly viewed as strategic competitors to western countries.

Some Nato members hold starkly differing views, from staunch Israel supporters, including the US and Germany, to harsh critics who have not labelled Hamas a terrorist organisation, such as Turkey. While he concedes consensus on the Israel-Gaza war will be "impossible" to achieve at Nato, Mr Colomina sees benefits in shared dialogue.

"I often say to my interlocutors that within the boundaries of their own foreign policy is where we need to work and usually we find middle ground," he said. "We are not just looking at the South because of the problems that come from the South but because we have a very honest and robust relationship with many of them, and that’s where I believe we can play a role."

Mr Colomina wants Nato "to be part of the conversation" on ending the fighting between Israel and Palestinians. "It’s been very clear that we are supporting a ceasefire," he said of the alliance. "We support the protection of civilians. We believe there should be an end to the tragic consequences of the situation in Gaza. We’ll continue to support the effort others are doing in that sense and it’ll be certainly part of the conversations I’ll have in Egypt."

'Embassies' across the Middle East

Crucial to Nato's efforts will be the opening of its first regional liaison office in Jordan's capital Amman "in a few months", said Mr Colomina. It is expected to function in a similar fashion to an embassy while also supporting the alliance's bilateral relations with Jordan.

"The embassy will help us collect political information, talk with people on the ground and have a better understanding of how things are evolving," he said. "There will be also other opportunities to maybe have a presence in other countries if that is the wish of some southern partners as well."

The alliance's focus on its southern neighbourhood will not come at the expense of support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, which remains its top priority, said Mr Colomina. But it is seen as a necessary step as security threats become more global.

"We don't have an option," said Mr Colomina. "We see instability in many places. This is a very serious organisation that has defence and security policy as its main assets. We need to use those to take care of the different concerns that we have."

Negative perceptions

Nato has a large number of instruments of co-operation with southern partners, including the Mediterranean Dialogue, a forum launched in 1994 with the participation of Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

But it has struggled to achieve meaningful impact because of "bilateral tensions" as well as "capacity and level of ambition towards Nato", said a report submitted in May by a group of independent experts to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

While not denying such tension exists, Mr Colomina emphasised Nato's flexibility. "We are trying our best to make it work," he said. "It’s not the ideal moment to work with seven southern partners and having Israel as one of them but we continue to have good bilateral relationships with all of them."

In the report, the alliance was also described as suffering from a "somewhat negative" reputation in its southern regions.

Reasons include the disastrous aftermath of its 2011 Libya campaign and accusations of double standards amplified by the West's apparent disregard for Israeli human rights violations in Gaza, in contrast to expressions of outrage over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

For Mr Colomina, it is mostly a subjective matter. "Perceptions [are] always a subjective thing," he said. "It's sometimes a matter of investing more time, more resources, having more ability to connect with wider audiences. That is something we are planning to do."

Iraq mission

Nato's most-vaunted success story in the Middle East is its non-combat mission to Iraq, which was launched in 2018 at the request of the Iraqi government. It involves training Iraqi officials to strengthen their administration, promote human rights and fight corruption.

"I believe that since we started, Iraqi authorities are very satisfied," said Mr Colomina. "The armed forces of Iraq are more professional, more efficient and closer to the principles that we apply to our own military – women, peace and security, or good governance."

The fact that the Iraqi government recently asked Nato to expand its advisory mission to the Interior Ministry and its federal police command is viewed as an indicator of the high level of satisfaction in Baghdad with the partnership, he added.

Meanwhile, in a major blow to American presence in the region, the Iraqi government has asked the US to withdraw its 2,500 soldiers deployed as part of its decade-old mission to weed out ISIS.

Their departure, scheduled to take place over the next two years, raises questions for Nato personnel in Baghdad, which is currently protected by US soldiers. It is a topic of discussion between the Iraqi government and Nato, which will likely have to ensure its own security in the future.

"Our ability to train forces will be basically the same, and the trainers we’ll have there will be the same, but we’ll need more logistics and more security," said Mr Colomina.

The report in May also invited Nato to "navigate non-exclusivity" by emphasising that partnerships with countries do not exclude co-operation with other actors, including strategic competitors.

This is again a matter of perception, said Mr Colomina. "Nato is for many reasons a very attractive organisation to work with because we are very capable and very effective. In some areas we are [the] best of best and because we have a strong brand that is obvious.

"For some, it might be a bit too much and we need to find the middle ground where our interest and their interest come together."

How much time will Mr Colomina have to achieve this delicate balancing act? Asked how long his new mandate will last, one Nato official did not answer directly. "The aim is to have a continued and long-term, high-level engagement with the region through the special representative," they said.