<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced this Saturday that the Spanish government will convey to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, during his upcoming visit to Spain, that “it is time to work to establish a real State of Palestine, with the West Bank and Gaza under the Palestinian Authority.”</strong></h4> King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will receive Mahmoud Abbas next Wednesday, December 10, on his second visit to Spain since the Spanish government recognized the State of Palestine on May 28, 2024. The objective of this visit, according to government sources, is to address “the serious situation in Palestine and strengthen Spain’s political and financial support for the Palestinian Authority.” The King will receive him at the Zarzuela Palace, and Pedro Sánchez will do so later at the Moncloa Palace. Abbas visited Spain and was received by Sánchez on September 19, 2014, just four months after Spain, along with Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia, recognized Palestine. It had been almost seven years since the Palestinian leader had last visited Spain. His previous visit was in November 2017, when he was received by the King and the then Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. For his part, Albares stated this Saturday, at the opening of the Doha Forum, that during Wednesday's visit, Spain will convey to Mahmoud Abbas the message that "it is time to work towards a real Palestinian state, and that means that the West Bank and Gaza must be under a single Palestinian Authority." Separately, the minister directly compared Israel to Russia, noting that both Benjamin Netanyahu's and Vladimir Putin's governments have made "war their foreign policy," and he praised the joint efforts of Qatar and Turkey, which, "along with Spain, the EU, Egypt, and the United States," have fostered a positive scenario for peace in the Middle East. In this regard, Albares stressed the need to seize this "window of opportunity" to achieve peace and warned that "Israelis and Palestinians need a horizon of peace, security, and dignity" because "no one should be condemned to a perpetual spiral of violence." <h5><strong>Bilateral meetings</strong></h5> Minister Albares took advantage of his participation in the Doha Forum to hold bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and with his counterparts from Nigeria, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and Iraq, Fuad Hussein, as well as meetings with the UNDP Administrator, Alexander de Croo, and with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. España trasladará a Mahmoud Abbas, en su visita a España, que “es el momento de poner en marcha un verdadero Estado palestino”
