<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Council of Ministers definitively approved the 2025-2028 Foreign Action Strategy on Tuesday, a "roadmap for Spanish foreign policy for the coming years" that places "the construction of a more autonomous and sovereign Europe at the center of our foreign action," according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.</strong></h4> The Strategy, approved on April 1 and which has already been approved by the Congress and the Senate, was approved by the Foreign Policy Council (the inter-ministerial collegiate structure that supports and advises President of the Government Pedro Sánchez on foreign policy matters), which met this Tuesday at the Moncloa Complex, and was subsequently definitively ratified by the Council of Ministers. “It is a true roadmap for Spanish foreign policy for the next four years at a time when the transformations in the international arena and the need for a global, coherent foreign policy with its own identity, like Spain's, are even more important,” Albares declared during the press conference following the Council of Ministers. “This strategy is based on three pillars,” he continued. “It places the construction of a more autonomous and sovereign Europe at the center of our foreign action,” defends “a Spain more committed to its values, to multilateralism, and to human rights,” and strengthens our country's role in building “peace and security,” he added. “The Strategy is a fundamental instrument for defending Spain's values, for establishing our interests, and also has, as its final and ultimate objective, to guarantee the life plans of the Spanish people in the face of any threat,” he concluded. The Strategy was developed in coordination with the other Ministries and with the participation of parliamentary groups, the private sector, civil society, and dozens of international relations experts. <h5><strong>Diplomatic and consular redeployment</strong></h5> As Albares himself explained last April, following its authorization by the Council of Ministers, the Strategy supports, with regard to Europe, "a qualitative leap forward in both common European policies and their financing, with a more ambitious European budget and a reform of the decision-making process in Brussels that extends qualified majority voting to new areas." It also advocates continuing the EU enlargement process, Europe assuming "greater responsibilities for its own security in all areas," including energy, technology, and defense; a commitment "to the European Pillar of Social Rights," greater attention to the southern neighborhood, and an improvement in European competitiveness. The second pillar of the Strategy, according to Albares, is the defense of "a Spain committed to values such as peace, multilateralism, democracy, an international order based on human rights and peace," for which it is necessary to "reform and strengthen multilateralism, making it more inclusive, more democratic, more representative." Finally, the third pillar is the commitment to "a Spain that contributes to global peace and security." To this end, he explained, "Spain and Europe must assume greater responsibilities for their own security, and to do so, they must strengthen the architecture of arms control, non-proliferation, and disarmament, and maintain a firm commitment to the fight against terrorism." "We also support international tribunals and anything that involves fighting impunity in terrible situations like those we see today in Ukraine and Gaza," he added. This third pillar, according to Albares, also includes "the security of citizens abroad." "There are already three million Spaniards residing abroad," and therefore, the Strategy provides for a "major plan to renew the consular network." In this sense, one of the Strategy's objectives, he explained, is "to rethink the instruments of our foreign action." "Therefore, following the Strategy, we are going to reconsider Spain's diplomatic and consular deployment: where we are, where we should be, and how to adapt it," he continued.
