The Diplomat in Spain

«There are always Bastilles to storm«, French Ambassador Yves Saint-Geours said on Saturday during the reception to celebrate the July 14th French National Day. Saint-Geours thus illustrated the need of the European Union to implement the profound changes to which President Emmanuel Macron alluded recently, including a consolidated Economic and Monetary Union; the Banking Union and a dynamic framework to promote R&D&I.

The ambassador said during his speech (in the photo above with the director of the CNI, General Félix Sanz Roldán, and the Secretary of State for Communication, Miguel Ángel Oliver, on the left) that «today, more than ever, the friendship between Spain and France is fundamental for our security, prosperity and promotion of a social and democratic model».

For this reason, he thanked Spain for «its military cooperation in Africa, its solidarity against terrorism and its shared vision of security in the continent and on emigration», and expressed his confidence that President Macron’s upcoming visit to Madrid, on the 26th of this month, will serve to further deepen cooperation «both in European issues and in our bilateral affairs». Macron and Sánchez will travel to Lisbon the following day to hold a trilateral summit to «agree a new energy interconnection roadmap».

After referring to the various crises that have hit Europe over the past year -jihadist attacks in Barcelona, ​​migratory crisis, or the Catalan crisis «in its European dimension»- Saint-Geours asked the 27 for «more dialogue, more solidarity in the defense of the rule of law and more cooperation». He ended emphasizing that «Europe is not abstract, it has the face of all of you, French and Spanish people working together. So we must not wait, we have to act now».

Text and photos: A. Rubio. 16/07/2018

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French and Croatian ambassadors chat about the World Cup football final which both countries played yesterday.

Tunisian Ambassador, Wacef Chiha, greeted by the hosts.

Ambassador of Poland, Marzenna Adamczyk, with former Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Ana Palacio.

Senegal’s Ambassador, Mamadou Sow, and Algeria’s, Taous Feroukhi.

A band of music of the Guardia Civil played the national anthems of France and Spain.