During his participation in the Davos Forum, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, defended the principle of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States, which he considered ‘non-negotiable’. At the same time, he advocated for the defence of the principles of the United Nations Charter.
During a day with a busy schedule, Albares told his interlocutors that ‘we cannot govern a multipolar world without multilateralism’ and argued that Spain's voice ‘is a humanist voice’ that defends such basic principles as sovereignty and territorial integrity in Greenland, but also the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and Gaza.
In this vein, the minister expressed the solidarity of Spain, as well as the entire European Union, with Denmark and with the basic principle of sovereignty, recalling that ‘the Greenlanders want to remain part of Denmark, they want to remain part of a Member State of the European Union’.
Albares, who is participating for the fifth time in this annual meeting, the theme of which for this edition is ‘A Spirit of Dialogue’, stated that "Spain is where it should be: at the centre of the European Union, showing solidarity with a European Union partner such as Denmark, defending the fundamental principles that govern virtuous relations between States - which are the principles of the United Nations Charter - and speaking clearly.
Bilateral meetings
In addition to his speeches at various points throughout the day, the minister also had the opportunity to greet French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Egyptian Minister of Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Albares also held bilateral meetings with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, his counterparts from Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis, South Africa, Ronald Lamola, and Saudi Arabia, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, as well as with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih.
The Spanish minister also met with Alexander de Croo, Administrator of the UNDP, the United Nations agency that has chosen Spain as the location for one of its headquarters and will relocate around 100 employees from its headquarters in New York.
As this was an economic event, the minister also had the opportunity to engage in economic diplomacy through meetings with the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Nadia Calviño; Alexander Soros of the Open Society Foundations; and the CEO of AstraZeneca, Michel Demaré.
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