Sáenz de Santamaría and Dastis during the event./ Photo: New Economy Forum
Eduardo González. 20/01/2017
Yesterday, the Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, was convinced that Donald Trump, who is taking up his position as president of the United States, will be aware, as soon as he starts governing, of the fact that the EU and the NATO are “essential” to face new threats.
“Between Spain and the United States there is a deep relationship”, which “goes beyond the political or party swing” and will be maintained in this “new stage in the Government of a country that is a friend, an ally and crucial for our interests and our foreign projection”, declared Dastis at the International Spain Forum, organized by the New Economy Forum at the Ritz Hotel of Madrid.
“We have already offered the first compromises with the new Administration”, he explained. “The president Mariano Rajoy held a phone conversation with Donald Trump and I have had the chance to meet his future adviser of National Security, general Michael Flynn, in New York”, pointed out Dastis, who affirmed that the former minister of Defence Pedro Morenés is a “perfectly qualified” person for the position of Ambassador to Washington, because he has “very useful connections and relations with that country”.
Concerning the future international policy of Trump -who recently described the NATO as “obsolete”, predicted the breakdown of the EU and showed sympathy towards the Brexit-, Dastis affirmed that, once he starts governing, “he will be aware of the essential role played by the NATO in terms of security”, and that “the United States will hardly find better allies that the Europeans” to deal with new threats, such as jihadist terrorism.
He affirms that Morenés has “very useful connections and relations” for the position of Ambassador to the US
Dastis used that same optimism with the future of the bases in Spain, which, according to him, “nobody will question” in Washington, due to their “importance, both within the framework of the NATO and in bilateral terms”.
On the other hand, Dastis was convinced that there will be no “pressure” between Trump and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and announced that Spain “will work with the US to continue the thaw with Cuba, which is positive for both parties”.
Concerning the Brexit, the minister warned that we should not “be obsessed and regret the decision made by the British” and what “matters is the day after and to focus on the Europe we want”. “The EU was created without the United Kingdom and it can go on without it”, he pointed out.
During the presentation of the event, the vice-president of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, declared that Madrid and Washington must maintain their “strategic ties” in the diplomatic, economic, security and defence fields, as all the North American, republican or democrat, administrations have maintained them throughout the last sixty years.
