Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, presided this Thursday at the Ministry’s headquarters in Marqués de Salamanca (Madrid), the presentation of the new Foreign Action Strategy 2025-2028, a document that aims to promote a foreign policy “without servilities” in which Spain is “an actor” in global change and not a mere “spectator of what others decide.”
This document, approved by the Council of Ministers on June 10, comes at the “most decisive moment since the fall of the Berlin Wall, at a defining moment in which the international order that has brought decades of progress and understanding is being questioned,” and characterized by “the return of war in Ukraine and Gaza, attacks on multilateralism, energy tensions, the climate emergency, and the use of disinformation against democracy,” the minister declared at the presentation of the event.
“Spain is a global player, with its own global voice and identity,” he stated. Therefore, he continued, “we want to be subjects, not objects, of what others decide; we want to be agents of this global change, not spectators of the decisions others make for us.” “There have been times when servility was confused with having an international position,” a “servility of the decisions of others” that, at times, has come at “the cost of participating in an unjust and illegal war,” he added, clearly referring to the involvement of José María Aznar’s government in the Iraq war led by the United States and the United Kingdom in 2003.
Another objective of the strategy, he continued, is to ensure that “the ‘standstill’ discourse does not triumph,” because “there are many more countries that continue to believe in multilateralism, in understanding, than those who have opted for the path of confrontation, unilateralism, and imposition.”
In this sense, according to Albares, the document advocates a reform of the UN that would allow “a greater voice to emerging countries that, in reality, have already emerged” and the development of “a bilateral agenda with new global actors that are already asserting themselves strongly and with whom dialogue is necessary to move the planet forward, such as India, Brazil, China, or African countries.”
The minister also warned of the need to “maintain close relations with the United States, based on dialogue, respect, and mutual benefit, as is appropriate among countries, partners, and allies,” because, he asserted, “the United States is Europe’s natural ally.”
The EU
Albares also defended, in line with the strategy’s priorities, an “autonomous and sovereign Europe that is an actor in the reconfiguration of the international order.” In this regard, he called for “Europe’s global action, which Spain wants to lead” and demanded a Europe “that guarantees security and speaks with one voice.”
To this end, the minister emphasized the need to achieve “more ambitious common European financing, a reform of the decision-making process” that includes extending “qualified majority voting to new areas,” and an improvement in the EU’s competitiveness, including the ability to “respond effectively to coercive economic measures (such as tariffs, without mentioning them)” by expanding “the network of trading partners.”
Gaza
According to the minister, “Spain is a country that always works for peace, for compliance with international humanitarian law, and for the fight against impunity, which must always prevail, under any circumstance and context, in Ukraine and Gaza.” Therefore, he warned that Europe “can and must do much more” to stop the “unbearable” violence and “the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine,” with measures such as suspending the Association Agreement with Israel, expanding sanctions against those who obstruct the realization of the two-state situation, pressuring for compliance with rulings and opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and providing financial support to the Palestinian National Authority.
Regarding Ukraine, Albares reiterated that Spain will stand by this country (whose ambassador was present at the event) “until this unjust and unjustifiable war gives way to a process in which Ukraine and Europe must necessarily participate.”
To implement all these principles, according to the minister, the Strategy (which has also been published in Catalan, Basque, and Galician because “that is our national identity”) proposes a “revolution in foreign policy” that entails “profound innovation and resizing of resources,” particularly with regard to the working conditions of foreign service personnel. In this regard, Albares announced that more than 650 new hires will be made across this foreign service network this year.
