Eduardo González
The La Moncloa Complex, headquarters of the Presidency of the Government, will host the first intergovernmental meeting between Spain and Palestine next Thursday, almost half a year after the decision of the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, to officially recognize the State of Palestine.
This is on the agenda of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. The Foreign Ministry sources consulted by The Diplomat have not been able to give more details, for the moment.
On September 4, Sánchez announced the celebration, “before the end of the year”, of the first bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine. “We are going to strengthen our ties with the Palestinian State, which we have recently recognised, and, in fact, I would also like to announce that, before the end of this year, we are going to hold the first bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine, in which we hope to sign several collaboration agreements between both States, with that State already recognised by Spain, which is Palestine,” declared the head of the Executive during the opening ceremony of the political year.
In addition, the Government confirmed on 24 October that “the holding of the first intergovernmental meeting between Spain and Palestine is scheduled before the end of the year in Madrid” and assured, in response to a written question from the Popular Parliamentary Group, that “the participation of the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Mustafa, has been confirmed”.
José Manuel Albares had a telephone conversation with Mohammad Mustafa on 12 November, with whom he again addressed the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and to whom he reiterated Spain’s support for the two-state solution.
On May 28, Pedro Sánchez announced to the press that the Council of Ministers had just officially recognized the State of Palestine. “Spain will thus join the more than 140 countries that already recognize Palestine as a State,” he declared. “This is a historic decision with a single objective: to contribute to Israelis and Palestinians achieving peace,” he said. Spain’s decision was adopted simultaneously by Ireland and Norway.
