<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>King Felipe VI presided over the opening ceremony of the 7th La Toja Forum – Atlantic Link this Thursday in Illa da Toxa, where he lamented the "intense campaign of discredit" against a UN that "shows signs of institutional and structural fatigue that, in certain contexts, limit its capacity to respond."</strong></h4> "It is evident that the world order (or disorder...) as we knew it is changing," the King stated during his speech at the opening session. "A century ago, in another turbulent time, it was already noted that when the old world dies and the new is slow to emerge, in that chiaroscuro, monsters emerge," he warned. “That chiaroscuro could define our era today,” a time in which “the international architecture built after the Second World War is weakening, eroded by successive crises, by the difficulty of its institutions to adapt to the speed of change, and by the questioning of that architecture by even some of those who, at the time, were its main promoters,” he stated. It is a time, he continued, “in which multilateralism is being displaced by multipolarity, by the new distribution of power centers based on geopolitical rivalries,” in which “actors and discourses proliferate that relativize universal values, question human rights, and exploit economic interdependence as a mechanism of pressure,” and in which “the language of consensus is replaced by that of coercion and violence, which is imposed in all its crudeness in Ukraine, Gaza, and in other less visible but equally devastating scenarios, such as Sudan or the vast Sahel.” “Today, when the dark ages threaten to drag on and uncertainty is gaining ground, the demand of our time is not to renounce multilateralism, but to rethink it, strengthen it, and adapt it to a changing world,” the King warned. “In this transition, where the future oscillates between the reconstruction of renewed international cooperation or a more fragmented and vulnerable order, multilateralism remains an indispensable tool,” because “it is the framework that allows the international community to be governed by shared rules—principles, norms, and procedures—that govern coexistence among States, reduce arbitrariness, and offer peaceful mechanisms for resolving differences, keeping alive the aspiration for an international system based on cooperation, not force,” he asserted. “From that aspiration arose the desire to create the UN, which just a week ago celebrated its 80th anniversary in New York, which also coincides with the 70th anniversary of Spain's accession,” the King recalled. “The UN represented an institutional achievement of enormous significance, but, like other institutions, it is currently subject to an intense campaign of discredit; let us recognize it, it also shows signs of institutional and structural fatigue that, in certain contexts, limit its capacity to respond,” he warned. During the inauguration, the King presented the “La Toja Forum – Josep Piqué” Award to the “fathers of the Constitution” Miguel Herrero and Miquel Roca Junyent. The award, consisting of a handcrafted reproduction of the La Toja Bridge, recognizes their decisive contribution to the construction of democracy in Spain. The second session opened with the opening speech by Professor Michael Ignatieff, 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, who subsequently held a dialogue with Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, former Vice President of the Government and partner in Corporate Governance and Compliance at Cuatrecasas. The day concluded with a roundtable discussion moderated by Arancha González Laya, dean of the Paris School of International Affairs and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, featuring former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The La Toja Forum-Atlantic Linkages forum is holding its seventh edition on October 2, 3, and 4. According to its organizers, this forum is marked by Europe's response to "change its priorities and quickly adapt them to the new situation" created by the "disruptive drive" of Donald Trump's second term in the White House. One of the event's key guests is former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has called for an end to the war in Gaza and defended the two-state solution. He will speak on Saturday.
