The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, received yesterday in Madrid the newly appointed Foreign Minister of Andorra, Imma Tor, to whom he reiterated the support of Spain and the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU for the Association Agreement between the Principality and the European Union.
The meeting took place only four days after the inauguration of Imma Tor, who last Tuesday replaced Maria Ubach. The day after assuming the portfolio, the new minister held a first meeting with the Spanish ambassador, Carles Pérez-Desoy, to convey Andorra’s willingness to “continue strengthening the ties of cooperation and good neighborliness,” as she stated on Twitter.
Yesterday’s meeting also coincided with the commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Precisely, yesterday the exhibition Andorra at a Glance, a traveling exhibition of contemporary Andorran photography organized by the Government of the Principality to commemorate 30 years of bilateral relations and the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Principality’s entry into the UN, was inaugurated at the headquarters of Casa de América in Madrid.
During yesterday’s meeting, which took place at the Ministry’s headquarters in Madrid, the two ministers discussed the current state of negotiations with the European Union for the achievement of an Association Agreement and, in this regard, Tor stressed the importance and opportunity for Andorra that Spain will hold, as of July 1, the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. For his part, Albares reiterated Spain’s commitment so that Andorra can reach a good agreement.
The role of the Spanish Presidency in accelerating negotiations with the EU is included in the joint declaration adopted by Albares and Tor at the end of their meeting. In the text, in addition to welcoming the commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the signing and entry into force of the Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, “by means of which Spain and France recognized Andorra as a State in its own right, thus establishing diplomatic relations”, the two ministers highlighted “the growing efforts that Spain and Andorra are making to structure an intense cross-border cooperation” and recalled the first visit of a King and Queen of Spain to Andorra, which took place in March 2021 and served “as a prelude to the celebration in Soldeu of the XXVII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government”.
Likewise, the declaration recalls “the last bilateral meeting between the head of Government, Xavier Espot, and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, which took place in Madrid on July 22, 2022” and in which the head of the Spanish Executive “reaffirmed his support for the conclusion of an Association Agreement between Andorra and the European Union”. This support, according to the joint text, “will be key now that Spain assumes the Presidency of the EU Council.”
“Both parties reaffirm their commitment to continue working together so that Andorra can reach the best agreement for the benefit of its citizens, and in accordance with European principles and values, which will allow it to progressively participate in the internal market,” the statement adds. “On this thirtieth anniversary, Andorra and Spain express our firm will to continue working together to strengthen our excellent bilateral, cross-border and good neighborly relations, and to promote the shared values that unite our peoples,” the text concludes.
Andorra and the EU have been negotiating, since 2015, the signing of a new Association Agreement that would allow the Principality to accede to the European Economic Area (EEA), the framework that brings together all EU member states and three of the four European Free Trade Association states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and guarantees an internal market governed by the same basic rules. The EU’s negotiations with Andorra are linked to those with two other small territorial states, Monaco and San Marino.
