NATO treaty has no provision to suspend or expel members, official says

NATO’s founding treaty contains no provisions allowing for the suspension or expulsion of member states, an alliance official said Friday, amid reports that the US had considered measures targeting Spain.

“NATO’s founding (Washington) Treaty does not foresee any provision for suspension of membership or expulsion,” the official said in a written statement to Anadolu.

The comments followed reports citing a US official who said an internal Pentagon email outlined possible actions against allies that declined to support US military operations, including a proposal involving Spain.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez dismissed the reports earlier Friday, stressing that Madrid bases its policies on official communications rather than internal correspondence.

“We don’t work with emails, we work with official documents and positions of the US government,” Sanchez told reporters ahead of an informal EU leaders’ meeting in the Greek Cypriot administration.

“Spain’s position is clear: full cooperation with allies, but always within the framework of international law,” he added.

Spain has refused to allow US military bases on its territory or its airspace to be used for operations against Iran, a stance that has drawn criticism from US President Donald Trump.

Trump has repeatedly accused NATO allies of not providing sufficient support and has raised the possibility of scaling back US commitments to the alliance.