<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, assured this Friday in Munich, before participating in the Security Conference, that he does not consider, “not even as a hypothesis, that matters concerning Europe are done without the voice of the Europeans” and warned that Europe defends in Ukraine “a fair peace that respects the Government democratically elected by the Ukrainians”, because, otherwise, “we will not be able to really call it peace and, of course, it will not be lasting”.</strong></h4> “Today, here, we Europeans are asking for a path to peace for Ukraine, but a path that respects the sovereign Government, the sovereignty itself, the freedom and independence of Ukraine,” Albares told the media after speaking at the Conference (“one of the most decisive in history,” according to him). “I do not consider, not even as a hypothesis, that European matters that concern Europe, although not only Europe, be done without the voice of the Europeans,” he warned. “We made this very clear in Paris and today I have been meeting with several European colleagues and all the comments have been along those lines,” he said. “Obviously, there is a European voice and a European position very clearly committed to peace in Ukraine, a peace that has to be sustainable and has to be long-lasting, and for that to happen it has to be a fair peace that respects the Government democratically elected by the Ukrainians,” because, otherwise, “we will not be able to really call it peace and, of course, it will not be long-lasting,” he warned. “What we want is for this to be the last time we see war as a way of resolving differences between states on European territory,” he added. Regarding the possibility that Trump’s stance on Ukraine could affect relations between the EU and the US, including Washington’s insistence that European countries increase their spending on defence, Albares said that “the transatlantic relationship has been mutually beneficial for Europeans and for North Americans for decades and, in fact, has given us the greatest decades of peace, stability and prosperity in our history.” “We Europeans are very clear about the defence needs that there may be and we make decisions for them,” he continued. “But we are also clear that security, in a broad sense, includes, of course, security from the point of view of defence, but much more, and for that we need cooperation and agreement, at the transatlantic level and with the rest of the countries of the planet,” he added. <div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"> <span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">The Munich conference comes two days after US President Donald Trump announced he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin “immediate negotiations” to end the war.</span></span> <span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Both the EU and NATO have rejected any peace deal that does not involve Ukraine and European countries.</span></span></span> <div></div> <h5 id="ow70"><strong>Intervention and bilateral meetings</strong></h5> </div> Before appearing before the media, Albares spoke at the first panel of the Conference, entitled ‘Economic and development cooperation in a context of multipolarization’, in which he defended the role of multilateralism because “cooperation is always stronger than confrontation” and because “there are global problems that require global solutions”. Among these “global existential issues”, he said, “the climate emergency is the most obvious”, as well as “migratory movements”, which “can only have a global approach”. “Therefore, what is needed is to reform the multilateral system, because “we have a more diverse world than ever, which is very good, and, of course, what we continue to call emerging countries, which have emerged a long time ago, are asking for their rightful place at the table”, he added. On the sidelines of the Conference, Albares held a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, with whom he discussed “excellent bilateral relations, multilateralism and the situation in Ukraine”. “Spain is working with China on global challenges such as the climate emergency and for the Seville Development Financing Conference,” the minister said on social media. He also met with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, with whom he discussed “the situation in Gaza and the Middle East” and to whom he conveyed “Spain’s commitment to peace and stability in the region.” The meeting took place a few days before the visit of the President of Egypt, Abdelfatah Al Sisi, to Spain. <div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Albares also held meetings with his counterparts from Israel, Gideon Saar, and Andorra, as well as with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UNRWA Commissioner General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.</span></span></span> <div class="OvtS8d"></div> </div> <div></div>
