<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and King Abdullah II of Jordan presided over the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement this Thursday in Madrid, which will elevate bilateral relations to the highest possible level between two states. The Hashemite King also praised "Spain's support for the rights of the Palestinians," and the Prime Minister explained the details of the draft resolution on Gaza promoted by Spain and Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly.</strong></h4> Abdallah II made a working visit to Spain this Thursday, where he was received by Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez. The day began at the Zarzuela Palace, where the Hashemite King was received by Felipe VI, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan, Ayman Safadi; the Jordanian Ambassador to Madrid, Raghad Al Saqqa; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; and the Spanish Ambassador to Jordan, Miguel María de Lucas. Later, the Jordanian monarch was received by Pedro Sánchez at the Moncloa Palace, where both leaders attended the signing by José Manuel Albares and Ayman Safadi of a declaration establishing a Strategic Partnership that will strengthen political, economic, social, cultural, cooperation, and defense ties between the two countries. This is the highest level of relationship that two states can maintain with each other, as well as the first agreement of its kind that Jordan has reached with a Western country. It completes a process initiated by the President of the Government and the King of Jordan in December 2023, on the occasion of a visit by the Hashemite Monarch to Madrid. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through this Strategic Partnership, both countries advocate for promoting bilateral cooperation in various sectors, within the framework of the numerous existing bilateral and multilateral agreements that bind both countries, particularly the Joint Declaration of June 2023 and the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations signed in March 2024. Furthermore, the two countries have committed to strengthening their cooperation at the level of Foreign ministers, as well as to implementing concrete actions and establishing timelines and mechanisms to monitor progress. In addition to the Strategic Partnership, both parties agreed to an extradition treaty, which establishes a legal framework for the reciprocal surrender of persons wanted for crimes covered by both laws, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on agriculture, which will enable bilateral cooperation to exchange technical, legislative, and experience-based knowledge, as well as promote sustainable rural development, the modernization of agricultural holdings, the use of renewable energy, and improved quality of agricultural products. <h5><strong>Gaza</strong></h5> During the meeting, according to Moncloa, the President of the Government and the King of Jordan also addressed the situation in Gaza and discussed the United Nations International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Palestinian Question, which will be held mid-month in New York. Spain and Jordan will co-chair one of the working groups aimed at establishing a Palestinian state. Separately, Pedro Sánchez informed Abdullah II about the progress made on the proposed resolution that Spain is promoting together with Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly on Gaza, which will demand that Israel end the humanitarian blockade imposed on the territory and grant full and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance. He also informed him of the European Union's ongoing review of the Association Agreement with Israel for violations of Article 2 of the Agreement on Human Rights. According to the Jordanian Royal Family, Abdullah II took advantage of his meetings with Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez to "praise Spain's support for Palestinian rights, as well as its support for the creation of a political horizon to achieve peace based on the two-state solution" and to highlight "the importance of Spain's decision to recognize the Palestinian state." He also informed the Prime Minister that his country is working to secure European support for the Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza "without displacing its population" and stressed the need to "intensify international efforts to support the Palestinians so that they can achieve their just and legitimate rights and establish their independent state, in accordance with the two-state solution." After his visit to Spain, the King of Jordan (who has shown particular commitment for years to the search for a solution to the Middle East conflict) will travel to London, where he will meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and to Nice, where he will be received by French President Emmanuel Macron. <h5><strong>Previous meetings</strong></h5> This is the first visit by the King of Jordan to Spain since 2023. That year, the Hashemite Monarch traveled to our country twice. The first took place in June, accompanied by Queen Rania, on the occasion of the Aqaba Process meeting held in Córdoba. He was received by Felipe VI, with whom he had agreed (four months before the outbreak of the current conflict in the Middle East) to advocate for a two-state solution. In December 2023, Abdullah II returned to Madrid, where he was received by Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez, before whom he advocated increased international pressure to halt the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and thanked "Spain's position" in favor of a ceasefire and a two-state solution to end the conflict. Abdullah II has shown particular commitment to the search for a solution to the Middle East conflict. For his part, Pedro Sánchez visited Jordan in April 2024, as part of a tour of the Middle East to advocate for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, promote the two-state solution and the recognition of the Palestinian state, and gather support for the peace conference proposed by Spain. The Prime Minister returned to Jordan two months later, in June, to participate in the International Conference on Gaza, co-organized by the Jordanian and Egyptian governments and the United Nations. This second trip took place two weeks after the Spanish government publicly announced its recognition of the State of Palestine. Separately, King Felipe VI also traveled to Jordan in October 2024. During that visit, the monarch harshly criticized, during his meeting with Abdullah II at the Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman, those who "decide on war instead of peace" and, as a result, "change the fate of millions of innocent civilians, ending lives while redrawing borders and displacing populations." He also expressed his support for the "crucial" role Jordan plays in promoting regional stability and asserted that "Spain and Jordan are united by a shared desire for peace and a common vision of prosperity for the region," which requires the realization of "the only possible way out of the endless cycle of violence: two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and stability." On April 29, Felipe VI and Abdullah II held a telephone conversation in which they discussed "the strong ties of friendship between Jordan and Spain" and "the efforts to achieve peace and stability" in the Middle East, according to the Jordanian government. In mid-May, Pedro Sánchez took advantage of his speech in Baghdad, Iraq, at the opening session of the 34th Summit of the League of Arab States (he was the only Western leader invited to the event) to invite the 22 member states of that organization to work together to advance the draft resolution before the UN.
