The Diplomat
The King inaugurated yesterday, for the third consecutive year, the Forum La Toja-Atlantic Link, an event that brings together businessmen, politicians and civil society and in which participate, among others, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; and the former presidents Felipe González and Mariano Rajoy.
“Now we can face the end of the crisis caused by the pandemic with more optimism, not without the necessary prudence,” said the King during the inauguration, held at the Convention Center of the Gran Hotel Eurostars La Toja, in O Grove (Pontevedra). “We also have the strong support of the EU, which has been able to rise to the challenge,” he stressed.
“International society is witnessing numerous changes in the global geopolitical order, characterized since the beginning of this century by the emergence of new actors, new balances of power and new scenarios that generate ever greater uncertainty and greater difficulty in governance at all levels,” the King continued.
“Isolationism or unilateralism are not a good option,” he warned. Therefore, at a time when analysts speak of “the erosion of multilateralism, the return of protectionist tendencies, the power of disinformation techniques, the volatility of the international order or the decline of traditional values”, is when “we must do more to defend freedom and the values that have allowed us democracy, when we must advance in the construction of open societies”, he said. “What has been achieved in terms of rights and freedoms, security, coexistence and opportunities must prevail in the face of a threat that could jeopardize what we have worked so hard to achieve,” he added.
The Forum, which will last until tomorrow, was created in 2019 as a framework for public reflection and conversation and with the common thread of the defense of Atlantic values in all their political, economic, social and international extension. During yesterday’s event, a debate was held on the New Geostrategic Balance, which was moderated by Josep Piqué, president of the Forum La Toja, with the participation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Spain and Portugal, José Manuel Albares and Augusto Santos Silva, who addressed issues such as the way out of the pandemic, economic recovery, the climate emergency and the situation in the EU and Ibero-America.
During his speech, Albares defended the creation of “a rapid reaction force” made up of “5,000 military personnel” within the framework of the European Union Defense, because “there is no credible diplomacy without a credible defense”. “The fact that Europe has its own defense does not mean that it needs its own army, but perhaps a rapid one,” he continued. He also warned that both the Spanish presidency of the EU, which will take place in the second half of 2023 (and in which, he assured, Spain will give relevance to Latin America, because “Spain has a global vision due to its position as both European and Ibero-American”), and the NATO summit in 2022, to be held in Madrid, “will set the global agenda for the coming years”.
Today, as in the first two editions, the highlight will be the dialogue between Felipe González and Mariano Rajoy. In the afternoon, a debate will be held on The financing of the autonomous regions, with the participation of the presidents of four autonomous regions: Alberto Núñez Feijóo (Galicia), Ximo Puig (Comunitat Valenciana), Emiliano García Page (Castilla la Mancha) and Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (Castilla y León). The Forum will close tomorrow with a closing ceremony in which, together with Josep Piqué, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, will take part.
Award to Ángel Gurría
During yesterday’s inaugural ceremony, the president of the Hotusa Group and promoter of the La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico Forum, Amancio López; the first vice-president of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño; and Alberto Núñez Feijóo also took part. Likewise, the First La Toja Forum Award was presented to Ángel Gurría, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) between 2006 and May 2021, in recognition of “his invaluable work in favor of the reinforcement and development of representative democracies and the Atlantic link”.
The Award Jury was chaired by Enrique Iglesias, former Ibero-American Secretary General and former President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and was composed, among other personalities, by Rebeca Grynspan, former Ibero-American Secretary General (SEGIB) and Secretary General of UNCTAD; António Saraiva, president of the Portuguese Business Confederation; Antonio Garamendi, president of the CEOE; José Luis Bonet, president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce; Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Felipe González and Mariano Rajoy.
