Spain joins the European Coalition against Drugs proposed in Copenhagen by France

Eduardo González The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Thursday Spain's accession to the European Coalition against Drugs, a platform proposed by France within the framework of the European Political Community (EPC) to combat organized crime linked to drug trafficking. Sánchez participated in Copenhagen in the seventh summit of the European Political Community (EPC), a high-level forum that provides a coordination platform for countries across the European continent, except for Russia and Belarus, in the context of Russian aggression in Ukraine. In addition to attending the plenary session, the President of the Government participated in the roundtable "Security and Resilience: Traditional and New Threats." During his speech at this roundtable, according to Moncloa, Pedro Sánchez reiterated Spain's solidarity with the eastern and northern flanks of the continent, the most threatened by Russian aggression, and warned of the growing importance of challenges such as disinformation and the climate emergency. Regarding disinformation, Sánchez cited Russian interference in the recent elections in Moldova as an example and called for greater coordination with neighboring European Union states to address this challenge. Regarding climate insecurity, he advocated strengthening European emergency and recovery mechanisms. Furthermore, within the framework of the Copenhagen meeting, Spain agreed to join the European Coalition against Drugs, a European Economic and Social Council (EEC) platform that will collaborate with other European institutions to combat drug trafficking on the continent, promoting pragmatic and effective initiatives. Among the objectives of this platform are improved coordination to combat port and maritime drug trafficking by sharing operational data among participating countries, strengthening financial surveillance systems to detect illicit money flows associated with drug trafficking, and adopting a comprehensive approach that includes health-related initiatives for the prevention, treatment, and mitigation of drug-related harm. In statements to the press before the meeting began, Pedro Sánchez announced Spain's intention to join "a proposal put forward by the French government regarding the creation of a group of countries to combat organized crime linked to drug trafficking." "I think this is an important issue, one that is unfortunately rarely discussed," he stated. "We applaud this proposal and, logically, as a government, we join this coalition of countries in the fight against drug trafficking for many reasons," he continued. "Undoubtedly, for the health and mental health reasons, but, of course, also to fight the mafias, which are unfortunately undermining coexistence on our continent, in our common project that is the European Union," he added.

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