The Diplomat
King Philip VI presided yesterday at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia, the meeting of the Scientific Council of the Elcano Royal Institute, which was dedicated to the analysis of the world situation after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
During the meeting, the Director of the Elcano Royal Institute, Charles Powell, moderated the debate The war in Ukraine and its possible geopolitical, economic and social consequences, in which Mira Milosevic-Juaristi, Senior Research Fellow at the Elcano Royal Institute; Gonzalo Escribano, Director of the Energy Programme at the Elcano Royal Institute; Camino Montera-Martínez, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Reform; Pol Morillas, Director of the CIDOB Foundation; and Luis Simón, Director of the Brussels office of the Elcano Royal Institute took part.
During his closing address, the King warned that “the cruel, illegal and absolutely unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February will undoubtedly mark a before and after in the contemporary history of our continent”. “War is always terrible, undesirable, and we must all contribute to the restoration of peace as soon as possible, while assisting the people of Ukraine and supporting the defense of their sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
“This horrible conflict should make us aware of the value of what has been achieved in recent decades, and of the effort it has taken to achieve it,” the Monarch continued. “That is why I said a few days ago in Yuste, when I presented the Charles V Award, that Europe ‘must not only be celebrated and commemorated, it must be protected and strengthened, it must continue to be built’.”
The Scientific Council is the advisory body of the Elcano Royal Institute, which advises the directors and researchers of the Institute in order to guarantee the effective fulfillment of its foundational purposes, especially those related to research, the dissemination of the work carried out, and the institution’s external relations. It is composed of distinguished Spanish and foreign personalities from the academic, political, diplomatic, business and media fields, who have in common a proven knowledge of International Relations.
The Council meets periodically, at least once a year, although its members meet regularly with the Institute’s researchers and collaborators in working groups organized by specific areas, to prepare the reports and studies they deem appropriate.
Among those attending the meeting were the president of the Board of Directors of Patrimonio Nacional, Ana de la Cueva; the mayor of the Royal Site of San Ildefonso, Samuel Alonso; the undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Luis Manuel Cuesta; and the president of the Elcano Royal Institute, José Juan Ruiz.
