Eduardo González
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares received his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlić Radman, in Madrid on Thursday, where they signed an agreement on political consultations establishing a regular framework for bilateral dialogue and the harmonization of positions on key European and international issues.
“The signing of this agreement on political consultations will further strengthen our high-level bilateral contacts,” the minister stated, as quoted in a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The agreement establishes a framework for consultations and cooperation at the political and administrative level between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs to address international challenges and improve bilateral relations.
In addition, José Manuel Albares and Gordan Grlić Radman reviewed the EU agenda and the challenges facing Europe, with particular attention to the need for adequate European funding for security and defense, aligned with a higher level of strategic ambition, and the strengthening of NATO’s European pillar. The two ministers also discussed the recent EU-Mercosur agreement, the enlargement to the Western Balkans, and the full and effective implementation of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, among other European issues.
According to the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Albares and Grlić Radman also analyzed cooperation in the Mediterranean region and emphasized the importance of the MED9 format and joint efforts in the Mediterranean as an area of special strategic interest.
Gordan Grlić Radman’s last official visit to Spain took place in May 2021, when he was received by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya (with whom he held a joint press conference at the end of the meeting). Albares himself visited Zagreb at the end of April 2022, where he was received by Gordan Grlić Radman.
Spain and Croatia, which have maintained diplomatic relations since March 9, 1992, share potentially convergent interests within the framework of the European Union, Euro-Atlantic relations, and the Mediterranean, especially since Croatia’s accession to the EU and its incorporation into the informal MED9 group, which brings together the EU’s Mediterranean countries.
In recent years, diplomatic relations have intensified, with a regular schedule of consultations at various levels and a frequent exchange of high-level visits. The King and Queen made their first official visit to Croatia in November 2022, during which they inaugurated a scientific and business forum dedicated to the IFMIF-DONES fusion energy project, jointly promoted by the two countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted in its press release the close cooperation between Spain and Croatia in the scientific and technological fields through “one of the EU’s most important strategic projects in the field of fusion energy,” the IFMIF-DONES project (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility-DEMO Oriented Neutron Source).
The facility, located in Granada, represents the largest investment in Spain in an international science project. The Minister expressed his gratitude for Croatia’s continued commitment to the project. In addition to Spain and Croatia, IFMIF-DONES includes the participation of Italy, Japan, and the European agency Fusion for Energy.
