The Diplomat
On 1 and 2 June, Córdoba hosted a seminar for university students on the NATO Summit, which will take place in Madrid on 29 and 30 June. The event was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the University of Cordoba and the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE), with the collaboration of the Cordoba City Council.
The seminar, which was attended by a hundred university students from the main Spanish universities, was attended by the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Cuesta; the President of the CRUE and Rector of the University of Cordoba, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos; the Mayor of Cordoba, José María Bellido; the Ambassador on Special Mission to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos; and the Mayor of Cordoba, José María Bellido; the Ambassador on Special Mission for the Atlantic Alliance Summit, Álvaro Iranzo; the Ambassador Permanent Representative of Spain to NATO, Miguel Fernández-Palacios; and the Deputy Director General for Terrorism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Ruiz, among other senior officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence. The conference was closed by the
Many of the speeches made reference to how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought about an absolute change in the security paradigm.
The Underscretary for Foreign Affairs recalled that the initial objective of the Summit was to define the Alliance’s new strategic concept and stated that “the opportunity cannot be missed” to adapt the Alliance’s strategy to the new situation brought about by the invasion of Ukraine”.
Addressing the university students, the Ambassador to NATO stressed the importance of the Atlantic Alliance: “None of what you do every day would be possible without someone to protect you against those who want to take away your freedoms”.