The Diplomat
The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, this past Thursday conveyed his “congratulations” to José Manuel Albares for his appointment as Foreign Minister and expressed his desire to “work” with him to “strengthen the bilateral relationship”.
“Congratulations to José Manuel Albares for your appointment as Spanish Foreign Minister”, Blinken wrote on his Twitter account. “I look forward to working with you and Spain to strengthen our bilateral relationship through further collaboration on shared challenges”, he added.
Albares responded to Blinken yesterday morning. “Thank you, Secretary Blinken”, he stated via the same social network. “The US is one of Spain’s most important allies in priorities such as fighting climate change, digital transition, strengthening multilateralism and the defence of democracy”, he continued. “I look forward to working together on a value-based international agenda”, he concluded.
The exchange of messages took place a few days before the trip of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to the United States, which will be exclusively economic in nature and in which no meeting with President Joe Biden is planned. The head of the Government has not yet held any bilateral conversation, whether face-to-face, telematic or by telephone, with the American leader since he arrived at the White House last January, except for the fleeting meeting that took place in mid-June during the NATO Summit in Brussels.
On the other hand, Albares’ predecessor, Arancha González Laya, did contact Blinken on several occasions. The two held a first brief face-to-face meeting on March 23 in Brussels, in the margins of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, and since then they have had a couple of telephone conversations. In the last one, which took place last June 10, the Secretary of State conveyed to the then Minister his commitment to a migration that takes place through “regular channels” and in a “safe, orderly and humane” manner, words that were interpreted as a veiled criticism of Morocco’s attitude after the massive entry of migrants into Ceuta in the midst of the diplomatic dispute between Madrid and Rabat.
