The Armada promotes European naval cooperation in Madrid in the face of new strategic maritime challenges.

The Armada has concluded the annual Chiefs of European Navies Meeting (CHENS 2026) in Madrid. On May 6th and 7th, this leading forum for strategic dialogue among European navies brought together 35 Naval Chiefs, along with representatives from Allied countries and international organizations such as the European Union and NATO.

This year's meeting, organized by the Armada, served to strengthen cooperation and the exchange of perspectives among naval leaders at a time marked by the growing importance of maritime dominance for global security, stability, and prosperity.

The sessions began with more than 60 bilateral meetings between the delegations, essential for strengthening strategic coordination and advancing naval cooperation initiatives in areas such as interoperability and shared maritime security.

This forum was also marked by a significant institutional dimension, with an audience of His Majesty King Felipe VI with the heads of delegations at the Royal Palace, a gesture that underscored the importance of the meeting and Spain's firm commitment to naval cooperation and international security.

On the second day of the forum, the plenary session was opened by Admiral General Antonio Piñeiro, Chief of Staff of the Armada (AJEMA), accompanied by the dean of the CHENS forum, Polish Rear Admiral Jarosław Ziemiański. During his address, the AJEMA emphasized “the importance of maintaining coordinated action among allied and partner navies in the face of increasingly complex and interconnected maritime challenges.”

The conclusions of the plenary session highlighted the need to strengthen cooperation among European, Allied, and partner navies in an international context characterized by increasing strategic uncertainty and high maritime interdependence. Participants agreed that forums such as CHENS are essential instruments for synchronizing initiatives, sharing analyses, and strengthening mutual trust among navies, thus fostering more coordinated and effective action within the framework of international security. In addition, the importance of avoiding duplication and moving towards a stronger European deterrence, based on cooperation across all areas, was also emphasized.

During the different regional panels, focused on the Baltic, the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the Red Sea, and the Indo-Pacific, the strategic importance of preserving freedom of navigation and ensuring the security of the sea lines of communication, fundamental to global trade and international stability, was unanimously highlighted. Participants emphasized that the naval environment provides nations and alliances with an immediate and flexible response capability to crises or conflicts, enabling them to generate rapid strategic and political effects wherever necessary.

Likewise, it was stressed that current challenges require comprehensive and coordinated responses from all sectors of society, strengthening both military and civilian resilience to hybrid threats, vulnerabilities in critical infrastructures, and potential disruptions arising from the global interconnection of the maritime domain.

In this context, the need to maintain support for Ukraine and to continue analyzing the lessons learned from the conflict was also reiterated, particularly regarding the use of unmanned systems and the new dynamics of naval combat.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles also spoke at the meeting, where she said that “the maritime domain is no longer simply a space for naval operations. It is also a strategic environment where economic stability, energy, security, digital connectivity, and geopolitical competition converge.”

To wrap up the sessions, the Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD), Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, stressed that “cooperation is not just an option, but an urgent and strategic requirement. Despite technological advances and the increasing complexity of the environment, people and organizations remain the central element.”

The closing ceremony included the symbolic transfer of the CHENS organizing presidency from Spain to Lithuania, the country that will host the 2027 edition.