The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced yesterday that Spain will contribute 130 million euros over the next three years to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which represents a 30% increase over the 2019 contribution.
Sánchez made this announcement during his speech at the Goalkeepers event of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, together with Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, held in New York on the margins of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Later, the head of the Executive held a meeting with the Editorial Board of The New York Times, at the newspaper’s headquarters, and participated in the Economic Forum of the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the main transatlantic business organizations, in which he stressed “the strength of Spain’s economy in the face of global challenges” and categorically condemned Vladimir Putin’s decision to hold the referendums for the accession of the Donbas to Russia.
Pedro Sánchez then participated in the VII Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis convened by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, during which the President of the Government announced that Spain will contribute 15 million Euros to the Intermediate Trust Fund, managed by the World Bank, to help developing countries in prevention, preparedness and response to pandemics.
Later, Sánchez co-chaired, together with the President of the Republic of Chile, Gabriel Boric, an act of homage for the 50th anniversary of Salvador Allende’s speech at the United Nations. In his speech, he stated that the progressive agenda must show determination, “at a time when people are looking to the state to contain uncertainty”. At the end of the day, the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, attended the reception offered by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to the Heads of State and Government at the Museum of Natural History in New York.
For his part, Albares held a “productive meeting” with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, with whom he discussed the situation in Ukraine and its consequences, the grain export agreement and NATO enlargement. This meeting took place one day after the one held by Pedro Sánchez with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he thanked for “his efforts in the search for solutions” in the Ukrainian conflict.
The Minister also inaugurated the forum “Latin America, the US and Spain in the global economy”, organized by El País and the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce, at the Yale Club in New York, in which he praised the work of Spanish companies and public-private cooperation and unity “in the face of global challenges in a complex context”. Later, he spoke at the Global Counterterrorism Forum, where he reiterated “Spain’s commitment to the fight against terrorism and its support for the victims”, and took part in the seventh Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, in New York. Albares’ day included a luncheon of the Alliance for Development in Democracy and a dinner with young Spanish leaders at the Riu Hotel in New York.
