The Diplomat
King Felipe VI presided yesterday, at the Zarzuela Palace, the meeting of the National Security Council, which was attended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and other members of his Cabinet, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
During the meeting, as reported by Moncloa, the situation in Ukraine and the regulation of the National Aerospace Security Council were discussed, among other matters. Likewise, the Annual National Security Report 2022 was approved.
The meeting was attended by the Second Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz; the Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop; the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles; the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska; the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez; the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños; the Minister of Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez; the Minister of Health, José Manuel Miñones; and the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant.
Also participating in the meeting were the Director of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government, Óscar López; the Secretary of State for Communication, Francesc Vallès; the Chief of Defense Staff, Teodoro Esteban; the Director of the National Intelligence Center, Esperanza Casteleiro; the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, and the Director of the Department of National Security, Miguel Ángel Ballesteros.
The National Security Council is a collegiate body of the Government whose fundamental missions are to assist the President of the Government in the direction of the National Security policy and the National Security System, to promote and supervise the fulfillment of the National Security Strategy, to approve the Annual Security Report before its presentation to the Spanish Parliament, to direct and coordinate the crisis management, to dictate the necessary guidelines in matters of planning and coordination of the National Security Policy and to control the functioning of the National Security System.
This body meets at the initiative of the President of the Government at least every two months or as many times as he deems necessary, as well as when circumstances affecting National Security so require, and reports to the King at least once a year.
