José Manuel Albares was part of the delegation that travelled with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to a Forum with 2,800 registered participants from some 120 countries exchanging views on the world situation, with the aim of establishing the beginning of a new era of global responsibility and cooperation.
The public “Ukraine's Horizons” panel, which saw participation from Minister Albares as a panellist, was also attended by the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Hanke Bruins Slot, the American Penny Pritzker, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, and the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak.
During the session, José Manuel Albares said that the processes of European integration and reconstruction in Ukraine must move forward in parallel to succeed. He pointed out that “if we do not plan reconstruction very well, Ukraine will never be able to meet the criteria” for EU membership, and insisted on the need to end the war so that these processes can be completed. “If Russia wins this war, our security, the security of the European Union, will be at risk,” he concluded.
During his trip to Davos, Minister Albares held several bilateral meetings. In addition to meeting with Najib Mikati, Prime Minister of Lebanon, and with his counterparts from Iran, Amir Hossein Abdollahian, and Peru, Javier González-Olaechea, the head of Spanish diplomacy held meetings with, among others, the President of the ICRC, Mirjana Spoljaric; the CEOs of Coursera, Jeff Maggioncalda, Naturgy, Francisco Reynés, Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, and Planet Labs, William Marshall, and with the president of the Open Society Foundations, Mark Malloch-Brown.