Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, held a telephone conversation yesterday with the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, who thanked him for Spain’s “strong support” for his country after the Russian invasion and with whom he discussed the “common future in the EU”. The conversation took place on the eve of the participation of the chief executive in an informal European Council that will address, among other issues, the European perspective of Ukraine.
“I had a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Spain,” whom “I have informed about the struggle of the Ukrainian people against Russian aggression and thanked for the solidarity and strong support provided to Ukraine,” Zelenski said via his Twitter account. “We discussed the common future in the EU,” he added. “Today I had another conversation with President Zelenski,” Sanchez announced via the same social network. “I conveyed to him that together, with our partners in the European Union, we will continue to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in these difficult times,” he added.
The conversation between the two leaders – the second since the Russian invasion – came a day before the start of the informal European Council, convened by the president of France and rotating president of the EU Council, Emmanuel Macron, for March 10-11 in Versailles and which will focus, above all, on the situation in Ukraine and on three key issues whose importance has increased with the conflict: strengthening defense capabilities; reducing energy dependence, in particular on Russian gas, oil and coal; and developing a stronger economic base by designing a new growth and investment model.
“EU leaders condemn Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, which seriously violates international law and undermines European security, while commending the people of Ukraine for their courage in defending their country,” the Council stated in its call for the Versailles meeting. “In response to Russia’s aggression, the EU has shown unity and strength and has coordinated to provide humanitarian, political, financial and material support to Ukraine. EU leaders will discuss the latest on the conflict and its consequences during the informal meeting,” it added.
The European perspective and the Association Agreement
One of the issues that European leaders are expected to address (most probably at tonight’s dinner) will be Ukraine’s decision to formally apply for EU membership, which has also been joined by two other countries that feel threatened by Russia: Georgia and Moldova. For the time being, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States (COREPER) has already sent the Ukrainian application letter to the European Commission, which will have to issue an opinion on the suitability of the application. This process entails deadlines and requirements, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been waiting since 2016 to be granted candidate country status, is well aware.
According to Moncloa sources, Spain’s main objective, and this will be conveyed during the informal meeting in Versailles, is that all member states maintain the same unity demonstrated to date on all issues related to Ukraine, including the EU candidacy.
Therefore, based on the general recognition of Ukraine’s European perspective, as has been demonstrated by the unusual agility with which COREPER has sent the letter to the Commission, the Spanish Government considers that, at this precise moment and pending the development of an accession process that is presumed to be long and complex, the EU and Ukraine should explore avenues of cooperation and cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, the EU and Ukraine should explore the already existing ways to strengthen their relationship in the short and medium term, deepening, for example, the Association Agreement signed in March 2014 (and in force since September 2017) to foster political and economic relations and to expedite the gradual integration of Ukraine into the EU internal market.
In this regard, the Minister Counselor of the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, Dmitry Matyushenko, yesterday again urged Spain “to make a clearer statement on the support of the process of Ukraine’s integration into the European union”, because, in his opinion, this is not the time to ask his country to “fulfill some technical requirements to become a member” but to “extend the hand and show the concrete political position that Ukraine is already a member of the family of European countries”.
Also, during his speech at an event at the headquarters of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) to explain the plan for the reception and reception of refugees from Ukraine, Matyushenko demanded that Spain “review the policy of golden visas through which Russian oligarchs and representatives of the Russian government have obtained residence permits even in Spain and have bought their villas” and that the title of “honorary” be removed from several Russian consuls who have their offices in cities such as “Seville, Burgos, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Vigo and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria”.
