Albares advances roadmap with Rabat, strengthens relations with Latin America and responds to new Russian threats to Ukraine at UN Assembly

EU foreign ministers met as a matter of urgency to respond immediately to the latest threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the extraordinary Council of Foreign Ministers, the second to be held by EU foreign ministers, Minister Albares reiterated support for Ukraine and condemned the ongoing violation of international legality, underlining that it had occurred during the very week of the UN, when "international law, peace and security should prevail".

He also took the opportunity to meet with the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, to support the investigation into war crimes in Ukraine. Albares also brought this defence of the UN Charter to the Initiative for Strengthening Atlantic Cooperation. Spain signed a joint declaration with other countries and under the auspices of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, adopting a set of shared principles on security, the economy and the environment.

The World Food Security Summit was also a good opportunity to display Spain's commitment to the fight against the food crisis caused by Putin's war. Albares was also able to address this issue in the bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart, with whom he also discussed the accession of new countries to NATO.

New UN headquarters in Spain

Minister Albares also took part in the Global Counterterrorism Forum, where he reiterated Spain's commitment to the fight against terrorism and its support for victims. The Minister for Foreign Affairs signed the agreement with the UN Deputy Secretary-General under which Spain will be home to a new UN headquarters for the fight against terrorism.

Latin America was high on the minister's agenda during the UN week. At the traditional breakfast of Ibero-American foreign ministers, Albares offered the Dominican Republic all his support for the success of the next Ibero-American Summit, an act of homage to Chilean President Salvador Allende and participation in the "Latin America, United States and Spain in the Global Economy Forum".

In parallel to the General Assembly in New York, the minister took part in economic, business and cultural events and held a dozen bilateral meetings, including a breakfast organised by the Council of the Americas.

Bilateral meetings

In addition to the aforementioned, Minister Albares had the opportunity to meet his Moroccan counterpart, Naser Bourita. At this meeting, commitments were made to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries. Following the meeting, Albares announced an agreement to work on the orderly and staggered start of the passage of goods through the land customs posts in January. He also advanced that for the first time since 2015, a high-level meeting will be held before the end of the year.

The pandemic was also an issue that arose towards the end of the week. Thanks to Spain's leadership in global health, the Foreign Minister was asked by Secretary of State Blinken to co-chair a new meeting in the international fight against COVID-19, following the success of the meeting of senior officials held in Madrid on 6 and 7 September, which brought together more than 60 participants. This meeting gave new impetus to international action on COVID-19, assessed progress made and outlined measures to control the virus and strengthen global health security.

Spain thus closes a UN week in which all the priorities with which Minister Albares travelled to New York were met, contributing to the strengthening of an inclusive and effective multilateralism around the UN system; promoting international peace and security, particularly in the response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine; continuing to promote the fulfilment of the SDGs and a fair and sustainable socio-economic recovery without leaving anyone behind; contributing to guaranteeing food security; protecting human rights and promoting a cross-cutting feminist foreign policy; promoting an inclusive ecological and digital transition; and strengthening Spain's presence in the UN system.

Non official translation