The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, had a telephone conversation yesterday with the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and with the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, with whom he discussed, among other issues, the upcoming NATO Summit in Madrid.
According to Moncloa, Sánchez and Macron spoke for 45 minutes to review the road to the NATO Summit, which is organized by Spain and will be held in Madrid on June 29 and 30 this year and in which the member countries of the Atlantic Alliance will approve the new Strategic Concept for the next ten years.
“It is the first official communication that Macron has had with a head of state or government since France assumed the rotating presidency of the EU,” the press release continued. For that reason, President Pedro Sánchez wished him “good luck during this rotating six-month term” and stressed “the need to strengthen the transatlantic link between the EU and NATO to face global threats”. Likewise, Sánchez conveyed Spain’s support to continue working in favor of the common Security and Defense policy, with special attention to the “impulse to the EU Strategic Compass” and the need to “advance in the EU Migration Pact”.
On the other hand, according to the United Kingdom Embassy in Madrid, the President of the Government and the British Prime Minister held a telephone conversation yesterday in which they talked about “the strong bilateral relationship between the UK and Spain, and agreed to further deepen Anglo-Spanish ties ahead of the NATO Summit in Madrid this summer”.
They shared their “deep concern” over Russia’s activities in and around Ukraine, and agreed any further Russian aggression would come at a “high price”. They added that an invasion risked “a damaging, protracted conflict with serious political and economic consequences”. They also discussed wider international issues, including addressing instability in the Sahel region and illegal migration. Both leaders agreed to continue to work towards a UK-EU treaty on Gibraltar and the Prime Minister reiterated the importance of a resolution on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Visit of Olaf Scholz
Yesterday’s two conversations took place in the middle of the relaunching of Pedro Sánchez’s foreign agenda after the Christmas break. The new Chancellor of Germany, the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, will make an official visit to Madrid this coming Monday to meet with the President of the Government, with whom he will later hold a joint press conference.
Since his inauguration last December, the new head of the German Executive has traveled to Paris (following the tradition of German chancellors to make their first trip abroad in France) and to Rome, where he was received by Mario Draghi. Monday’s meeting will therefore be the first bilateral meeting between Sánchez and Scholz since the latter took office. However, both already coincided at the December European Council in Brussels and at a meeting of the European Socialist Party in the Belgian capital. Moncloa sources have highlighted the strong harmony that exists between them.
