Faced with the increasingly widespread fear of a long war in Ukraine, Felipe VI advocates "continuing to respond unequivocally to this unprovoked, justified and illegal aggression" by Russia: "a particularly dramatic episode in the long global struggle between tyranny and freedom. The King expressed himself in these terms in the speech he gave on Thursday night upon receiving the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) Medal at the Harvard Club in New York.
The monarch considered that, if there is something that the war in Ukraine has taught us, it is "the crucial importance and centrality of the transatlantic link."
After recalling the forthcoming celebration of the 40th anniversary of Spain's accession to NATO, as well as the hosting of the Alliance summit next June, in Madrid, he said that the country has repeatedly shown that "we are a reliable and deeply committed."
And he stressed the convenience of strengthening "the transatlantic relationship between Europe, North America and Latin America" as a means of better facing the new challenges we see on the planet; always under "the key notion that, if we want to coexist in a civilized world, conflicts must be resolved peacefully".
In his address to the members of the FPA and after an emotional presentation by his former professor at Georgetown University in Washington, Peter Krogh, the King called for not taking for granted the values of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. His defense "implies a tireless commitment", perhaps "an eternal work, regardless of the transformations that the world undergoes", he affirmed. And he underlined the danger of "a polarized political and social discourse" that occasionally questions democracy itself.
Felipe VI received the FPA Medal after meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and holding a meeting with Spanish businessmen in the United States who explained their problems and opportunities in this stage of overcoming the pandemic.
