The Diplomat
The US Chargé d’Affaires in Spain, Conrad Tribble, assures that his country “enthusiastically supports” a “greater” Spanish leadership role at the international level.
During a debate organised by the Institute for International Affairs and Foreign Policy (INCIPE), in collaboration with the Spain-US Council Foundation, Tribble, who is at the head of the US Embassy until the appointment of a new ambassador, said last Thursday that with the new administration of Joe Biden there will be no major changes in bilateral relations.
Tribble valued aspects of these bilateral relations such as reciprocal investments, security and the presence of US military personnel at the Rota and Morón bases, and pointed out that they would like to see a greater role for Spain in certain “key” regions, among which he cited the Sahel and Latin America, with special reference to Venezuela and Central America.
For the US representative, Spain “is also a very important ally” when it comes to “counteracting” Russia’s influence and supporting human rights throughout the world.
“We are working with energy and enthusiasm to deepen and expand our bilateral relationship,” he said, stressing that the United States and Spain have been allies for 70 years and, for Washington, the “prospect” is that the relationship will continue “for many more”.
Tribble assured that, following the arrival of the new Biden Administration, Washington and Madrid have maintained “many” high-level contacts and, among them, he mentioned that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, spoke at the NATO ministerial meeting held this week in Brussels.
During his speech, Tribble also referred to the broad outlines of the foreign policy that the new Executive in Washington has outlined and stressed that both Blinken and Biden have a “great” commitment to the transatlantic relationship, to diplomacy and to the power of alliances.
According to the Chargé d’Affaires, “the most relevant thing for Spain is the focus we have placed on our alliances”, and that Biden and his team recognised “from day one” the need to rebuild “damaged” relations. “We need our allies and partners, including Spain and the EU,” he said.
