Eduardo González
The acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will participate from today until Wednesday in the United Nations High-Level Week, which will kick off the 78th session of the General Assembly in New York and in which he will address issues of international interest, such as the 2030 Agenda, the reform of the international financial system, the climate challenge and the war in Ukraine.
Sánchez’s participation in the High Level Week will take place a few dates before the debate and subsequent vote on the investiture of the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, after the general elections of 23 July, is held in the Congress (on 26 and 27 September). In the event of not succeeding, which seems very likely, it will be Sánchez who will undergo his own investiture process. If his candidacy does not succeed either, the King will have to dissolve the Chambers at the end of November and call new elections, with the endorsement of the President of Congress, Francina Armengol, for January 14, 2024.
The annual High-Level General Debate will bring together Heads of State and Government and ministers of Member States under the very long theme Rebuilding trust and reviving global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards achieving peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.
Monday
The activity of Sánchez, who arrived in New York yesterday evening, will begin today with his participation in the SDG Summit, convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, where leaders will review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide high-level political guidance on actions to enable the achievement of these challenges by 2030. The outcome of these talks will be a negotiated political declaration. The meeting will be divided into several dialogues and Pedro Sánchez will intervene in dialogue number two, dedicated to building “resilient and strong societies” with the capacity to carry out “the necessary reforms for the transitions towards the SDGs”, according to Moncloa sources.
At around three o’clock in the afternoon (nine o’clock in the evening in Spain), the acting Prime Minister will be received by Guterres, with whom he will discuss current issues and the international financial mobilization necessary for the SDGs and the climate challenge, an issue of particular concern to the Secretary General and which will be one of the main themes of the High-Level Week. The day will conclude with a meeting with the NBC Universal conglomerate.
Tuesday
Tomorrow, Tuesday, will begin with the opening of the General Assembly, which will be addressed first by António Guterres, the President of Brazil (as is tradition), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, in his capacity as host country. This will be followed by the speeches of the Heads of State or Government. Pedro Sánchez’s speech will take place on Wednesday.
The President of the Government will hold bilateral meetings tomorrow with the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouni, with whom he will discuss migration, the fight against terrorism and stability in the Sahel; and with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohamed Shia al Sudani, six months after Spain took command of NATO operations in Iraq.
In the early afternoon, Pedro Sánchez will participate in a round table on the reform of the international financial architecture, a central theme of the 78th General Assembly, which was already addressed at the recent G20 Summit in India. The meeting has been convened by the Spanish Government, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the French delegation, which does not include President Emmanuel Macron and is headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna. For the time being, the leaders of numerous countries and relevant financial institutions have already confirmed their attendance. To end the day, Sanchez will attend the reception hosted by the President of the host country, Joe Biden, at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Wednesday
Wednesday will begin with an event hosted by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce (a long-standing tradition during High Level Week). Pedro Sánchez will deliver the inaugural speech, dedicated to the Spanish economy and the priorities of the next legislature (obviously, in the event that he remains at the head of the Government when the current investiture process concludes). The meeting will address the relations between the US, Latin America and Spain and the economic prospects of this relationship and will be attended by Spanish, North American and Latin American businessmen and journalists.
Sánchez will also participate on Wednesday in the Climate Ambition Summit, convened by António Guterres, who has asked the participants to propose credible, serious and innovative climate actions to tackle the climate crisis. To this end, according to the aforementioned sources, the Secretary General has invited the governments that, in his opinion, have shown the greatest commitment to climate action, the mitigation of rising temperatures, the reduction of emissions and the increase in financing to undertake the necessary reforms. The Prime Minister will speak about Spain’s commitment to the climate and will sign the treaty for the preservation of biodiversity in the high seas.
After a possible press conference, still to be confirmed, Pedro Sánchez will intervene this same day in an open debate organized by the Albanian presidency of the UN Security Council on the war in Ukraine, in which he will express Spain’s support for this country and its defense of a just and lasting peace based on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of States. Among the leaders participating in this meeting will be the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski. In the afternoon, Pedro Sánchez will address the General Assembly. The sources did not specify the content of his speech.
On the same day, Pedro Sánchez will hold a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity of Libya (based in Tripoli and recognized internationally and by Spain), Abdul Hamid Dbeibé. The meeting was formally requested by Libya and will address Spain’s assistance to this country after the passage of the storm Daniel, which has left more than 10,000 dead in the city of Derna (east). For the time being, no other bilateral meetings have been scheduled, except for a meeting with the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, to analyze the reform of the international financial architecture.
