The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced yesterday in Moldova the commitment of Spain to take in a thousand Ukrainian refugees fled to this country in the centers set up in Barcelona, Madrid and Alicante.
“Moldova must know that it is not alone, that it has the support of Spain and the European Union,” said Albares during the joint press conference with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova, Nicu Popescu. The head of the Spanish diplomacy went to the capital, Chisinau, yesterday as part of a two-day tour of this country and Poland to learn about the situation of Ukrainian refugees on the ground.
During the meeting, Albares announced Spain’s commitment to receive Ukrainian refugees in the centers set up in Barcelona, Madrid and Alicante. Specifically, Spain will receive about 1,000 Ukrainians who have fled to Moldova, the minister said later during his visit to the refugee reception center in Chisinau. According to Albares, the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) is going to collaborate in the elaboration of a list of people who wish to move to Spain, after which the Spanish Government “will proceed to send planes as soon as we have a clear list”.
Of the more than three million Ukrainians who have fled since the Russian invasion began, more than 300,000 (ten percent) have done so through Moldova, Popescu explained at the press conference. More than 120,000 refugees remain in Moldova, a figure equivalent to four percent of its population and representing “an exemplary gesture of solidarity,” Albares declared via his official Twitter account.
Likewise, the minister informed that the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID) is going to send 30 tons of humanitarian aid material to Moldova, which will arrive at the end of the week, and will deploy, “shortly”, a field hospital in this country.
On the other hand, Popescu conveyed to Albares Moldova’s desire to join the European Union and requested Spain’s collaboration for the completion of the required reforms and the support of our country for its integration into the EU. Besides, the Minister was received by the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu; the Prime Minister, Natalia Gavrilita; and the President of the Parliament, Igor Grosu.
Afterwards, Albares went to Poland, where he attended a briefing by UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Polish humanitarian organizations, and visited the refugee reception center in Przemysl, in the southeast of the country, where the first aid is provided to Ukrainians who cross the border before traveling to other destinations. The Minister also toured the border area with Ukraine, where more than two million people have already crossed the border seeking refuge, and met at the Medyka border crossing with members of the Spanish GEO who collaborate in the security work and held a briefing with the Polish Border Guard.
Already in Warsaw, the Foreign Minister will maintain today a bilateral agenda that includes a meeting with Spanish businessmen and will meet with his Polish counterpart, Zbigniew Rau, with whom he will review issues of interest to both countries after reviewing the impact that the Russian aggression in Ukraine has on Poland. The Spanish Government has so far sent two shipments of humanitarian aid to Poland, where medicines and medical supplies worth almost 400,000 euros have arrived.
