<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares received his Slovakian counterpart, Juraj Blanár, in Madrid on Monday, reaffirming Spain's "firm commitment" to NATO's eastern flank.</strong></h4> During the meeting, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Albares and Blanár discussed security and defense. "Spain is committed to the security of Slovakia and Europe," Albares wrote on social media. "I reiterated this to my Slovakian counterpart, Juraj Blanár, in Madrid," he added. In July 2024, Spain assumed command of Slovakia's multinational brigade, within the framework of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence in Eastern Europe. According to the Ministry, this is the largest Spanish deployment abroad, with 828 Army personnel at the Lest and Kuchyma bases, along with significant heavy equipment. In early April, Juraj Blanár held a conversation with Albares in Brussels—on the sidelines of the NATO Foreign Ministry meeting—in which he raised the possible deployment of an air defense system in Slovakia as part of the Spanish military presence, until Slovakia has the capacity to guarantee the protection of its own airspace. The Spanish minister pledged to forward the request to the Spanish government, according to Slovak media. On the economic front, Albares highlighted the importance of the recent agreement signed between the Ministries of Transport of both countries to foster cooperation in this area. Spanish companies operating in Slovakia mainly operate in the automotive and infrastructure sectors. Likewise, both ministers emphasized the importance of Spanish, which is becoming established as a foreign language in the Slovak education system, and noted that Spain is among the favorite destinations for Erasmus students from Slovakia. During the meeting, they also discussed the challenges facing the European Union and the preparations for the upcoming NATO summit, which will be held in The Hague at the end of the month, as well as Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. The meeting took place at the ministerial headquarters in the Viana Palace. This is the first bilateral visit by the Slovak Foreign Minister to Spain in almost ten years, according to a press release from the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Slovak minister's visit, which will continue on Tuesday, will include a meeting with the Chairman of the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, José Ignacio Landaluce, as well as participation, at the Slovak Embassy in Madrid, in the opening ceremony of the new Honorary Consular Office of Slovakia in Bilbao, the first Slovak representation in the Basque Country. He will also visit the European Union Satellite Centre and the Complutense University of Madrid, meet with fellow Slovaks, and award personalities of Slovak-Spanish cooperation with the Friendship Shield from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
