Strong support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion. NATO Summit in Madrid in July, under the sign of war. Clear improvement in relations with the United States after the turn on Western Sahara and the agreement with Washington for a future expansion of the Rota naval base. Temperate relations with the UK after Brexit. Optimal relations with Germany. Signing of a friendship and enhanced cooperation treaty with France, in Barcelona, a city that was not chosen at random. (After two weeks, ERC and PSC agreed on the budgets of the Generalitat, breaking for the first time in ten years the block policy in Catalonia during the procés). High-level meeting with Morocco in Rabat to overcome the serious crisis of 2021. This is, in its main lines, the path of Spanish foreign policy over the last year. La Vanguardia has interviewed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to review that journey, with special emphasis on the recent summit with Morocco. A summit that has presented a problem: it has not been crowned by King Mohamed VI.
Is a high-level meeting with Morocco without a crown a good summit?
There have never been so many Spanish and Moroccan ministers on both sides of the table. Twenty-eight ministers in total...
On the Spanish side there was no minister of United We Can...
There have never been so many agreements signed. We have not gone to Rabat in search of photos or formal acts, we have gone in search of results and the main result is a new relationship model; a new relationship model based on mutual benefit, the absence of unilateral actions, transparency and permanent communication.
Allow me to insist, Mohamed VI has not received the President of the Government of Spain by absence, since he spends a good part of the year between Gabon and France. It is the first time in a high-level meeting between the two countries that this circumstance occurs.
The King of Morocco has been personally involved in the preparation of the high-level meeting. This has been stated by the Moroccan authorities and a statement from the Moroccan Royal House. And I add the following information: the current president is probably the head of the Spanish government in a democracy that has seen the king of Morocco the most times. President Pedro Sánchez has received an invitation in Rabat for a future meeting with Mohamed VI.
When?
There is no set date. According to the statement from the Royal House it will be soon.
Spain has changed its position on Western Sahara, admitting the possibility of it becoming an autonomous region of Morocco, as long as it bears the UN seal. For the first time Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara is accepted with the consequent anger of Algeria. The PSOE avoids voting on European Parliament resolutions that could make Morocco uncomfortable. The Government of Spain takes extreme precautions and Mohamed VI does not crown the new relationship. It is an asymmetrical balance.
In the dynamics between Spain and Morocco, what counts are the results: we are better. I think there is no doubt that we are better. The concrete results are being beneficial for both parties. Strengthened political dialogue. Mutual respect. Improvement of trade relations: a global trade figure of 20,000 million euros. 50% of Spanish investment in Africa is concentrated in Morocco. A Moroccan investment plan of 45,000 million euros, open to Spanish companies. Investment possibilities in the railway field, in the water cycle, in sanitation, in the agri-food sector. A greater presence of the teaching of Spanish in Moroccan schools. This is the material balance of the Rabat summit.
Is irregular immigration still under control?
If we take the figures for this past month of January as a reference, the arrival of irregular immigrants to the Andalusian coasts has fallen by 69% and on the route to the Canary Islands it has decreased by 82%. All other immigration routes from Africa to Europe are growing.
The Popular Party maintains that Spain has been humiliated and ignored in Rabat. Former Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo affirms that Spain has become a Moroccan protectorate.
They don't know what they're talking about. If the PP were ruling Spain right now, we would have a very deep crisis with Morocco. Have we forgotten Parsley? Neglecting Spain's relationship with Morocco, I think, makes that party incapable of governing.
"We have to avoid everything that we know offends the other party, especially as it affects our respective spheres of sovereignty." Words by Pedro Sánchez in Rabat. Shouldn't we talk about the Sahara so that we don't talk about Ceuta and Melilla?
There is no hidden meaning to be seen in this phrase of the president. That sentence says that we do not want to offend each other, that our relationship is based on mutual respect, without resorting to unilateral action.
How will the customs of Ceuta and Melilla be set up?
We have agreed on a schedule that will be rolled out gradually. On January 27, the Melilla customs office, closed since 2018, was reopened. We do not want avalanches, we do not want to go back to living unworthy scenes for the relationship between the two countries.
Occidental Sahara. There seems to be no news at the United Nations.
The solution is not going to be imposed by Spain. The solution will be proposed by the personal envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Staffan de Mistura, a great diplomat who has all our support. Spain is next to him.
Is the United States also on your side?
I can only speak on behalf of the Government of Spain.
Has Morocco asked for full control of the airspace of Western Sahara? Has Morocco proposed the opening of a Spanish consulate in Western Sahara?
The Spanish position on the Sahara is perfectly reflected in point number 8 of the joint declaration of the Rabat summit.
Has there been talk in Rabat about France's departure from Mali and Burkina Faso, about the problems of the Sahel and about the presence of the Wagner company in that area?
The meeting was focused on our bilateral relationship. That being said, Morocco is a very important country in Africa. Therefore, we must also talk about Africa with Morocco.
What will Spain's line with Algeria be from now on?
With Algeria we want exactly the same relationship as with all our neighbors. A relationship based on mutual respect, mutual benefit and non-interference in internal affairs.
Is there still a mediation attempt by King Abdullah II of Jordan to improve relations between Morocco and Algeria, which La Vanguardia reported last December?
I am not aware.
Are you aware of an improvement in relations, even minimal, between the United States and Algeria?
I am not aware. It is not my job to comment on relations between other countries.
Are you aware of the interest of the United States in opening a military base in Morocco for a greater projection of force in the Sahel?
I am not aware. What I do know is that Spain has a first-rate relationship with the United States, as it did not have many decades ago.
A week before the Morocco-Spain summit, there was an Algeria-Italy summit. In Algiers, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, stated that Italy will “inevitably” become the great hub for the distribution of gas from southern Europe. Is there a competition going on between Italy and Spain for the new energy maps in Europe?
All my respects to Italy's efforts to overcome dependence on Russian gas. The only thing I can say is that Spain is part of the solution so that Europe is no longer subjected to energy blackmail, wherever it comes from. We have a significant capacity to regasify liquefied natural gas. The Barcelona plant is in this sense exemplary and vital for Europe. We have put Iberian solutions on the table that can now be solutions at the European level. We have agreed with France and Portugal on the construction of an underwater hydrogen pipeline between the ports of Barcelona and Marseille, which has just received active support from Germany. We are fully committed to renewable energy. This is how Spain likes to be in international politics: providing solutions.
Very soon it will be a year since the start of the Ukrainian war. Most forecasts now point to a long war of attrition. Do you share that diagnosis?
I would like to be wrong, but it can be a long war. It will soon be a year, Vladimir Putin launched an illegal, unjust and unjustified aggression against a sovereign country. Throughout this year, Putin has unfortunately made it clear that he does not want to give peace any chance.
Is Europe ready for a long war in the Ukraine?
This conflict has not been wanted by the European Union, nor by any European country. Neither has NATO wanted it. Neither have Ukraine and its president wanted it. The only person responsible for this war is Vladimir Putin. What Europe has shown is its firm intention to help Ukraine. We have done it and we will continue to do it.
Will the European unit be maintained in the face of a long war?
I believe that the unity of Europe in the face of the war in Ukraine is beyond any doubt. We have maintained unity through eight packages of sanctions against Russia and we have maintained unity in the constant rejection of that illegal war. The European Union knows that unity is its best asset.
Brazil is returning to the international stage. And Brazil has just made a peace proposal for Ukraine, based on a third way, which would seek the support of China, India, Indonesia and other countries. How does the Government of Spain assess this initiative?
First of all, we celebrate the return of Brazil to the international scene. I think that we share with Lula da Silva a basic idea of international relations, based on multilateralism. Spain will always carefully analyze any peace initiative, but it must be a peace within the Charter of the United Nations. One thing must be clear: we Europeans cannot allow aggressive wars in Europe.
