The King affirms at the graduation ceremony that “diplomats have never been more needed than now”

The Diplomat King Felipe VI presided this Thursday, January 26, over the graduation ceremony for the new members of the Diplomatic Corps, at a time when, he warned, “diplomats have never been more needed than now.” During the ceremony, held at the Diplomatic School, the Monarch presented the diplomas to the 29 members of the 77th graduating class, headed by the top-ranked graduate, Alba Gavaliugov. King Felipe has presided over every graduation ceremony since his proclamation as King. The first took place on November 13, 2014, and this is the twelfth. The new class is composed of 29 diplomats (13 men and 16 women), whose average age is 29.6 years. Eight are from Madrid; four from Castile and León; three from Andalusia; two from the Valencian Community; Two are from Asturias; two from La Rioja; two from Galicia; one from Catalonia; one from the Basque Country; and one from Extremadura. Regarding their education, fifteen hold degrees in Law; nine in International Relations; five in Political Science; three in Economics; two in History; and two in Philosophy. The remainder have degrees in Business Administration, Biotechnology, Modern Languages and Literatures, Translation and Interpreting, and Advertising and Public Relations. Upon his arrival, the King was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Xavier Martí; and the Ambassador-Director of the Diplomatic School, Cecilia Robles. After the greetings, King Felipe proceeded to the Aula Magna, where he presided over the presentation of diplomas. Following the ceremony, the King delivered a speech. “Last month, at the Conference of Spanish Ambassadors—those who will soon be your superiors, your colleagues, and one day, yourselves—I expressed my conviction that this is the time for diplomats,” he recalled. “You have never been more needed than now,” he warned. “Your vision and your attitude coincide, necessarily and by conviction, with the principles and values of our constitutional order, to which all of us who dedicate our lives to serving Spain are bound, and also with that ‘channel’ of coexistence and our development that is an international order based on commonly accepted and applied norms,” he continued. “Defending norms and dialogue is not denying that relations between sovereign states are, essentially, relations of power, but rather committing to channeling and ordering them toward the common good: peace, stability, and social and economic progress,” he stated. “In this year, the 60th anniversary of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, I want to emphasize a central idea: that respect for human dignity should always be your guiding principle,” the King stated. “Last January 21st, I was at the European Parliament, commemorating the 40th anniversary of our accession to the Communities, and my interlocutors reminded me of that generation of Spanish diplomats who surprised everyone when they arrived in Brussels in the mid-1980s,” Felipe VI recalled. “We joined the European project late, but in a short time we astonished our partners by leading initiatives in areas such as territorial cohesion, citizenship, security, and justice,” he emphasized. “Now, at this pivotal moment for Europe, it is up to you to continue that effort, and to do so with the same ambition to serve and build,” he cautioned. The King also mentioned the upcoming 30th Ibero-American Summit in Madrid, “in which many of you will likely be involved.” “Let us work on tangible objectives to revitalize the summit system. You have a powerful tool at your disposal: the Spanish and Portuguese languages,” he added.

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