The lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, will take a new step this Wednesday in order to deal with the interconnections of the Atlantic arc and its situation as a strategic axis in the European Union. The Basque leader will meet this afternoon in Madrid with the French and Portuguese ambassadors in Spain. These meetings are based on his concern about the loss of weight of the Atlantic axis compared to other main axes of the Union.
The lehendakari will transfer to the French ambassador in Spain, Jean-Michel Casa, the request that the French government prioritize the arrival of high-speed rail to Dax, after the announcement by the French government to delay it to 2042.
The objective of the Basque Government is that the new Bordeaux-Dax branch can be built as soon as possible and, likewise, that the infrastructures between Dax and Hendaye, on the Bidasoa border, be renewed. In this way, the Basque railway 'Y', which could be ready by 2027, would continue towards continental Europe and would not be threatened by possible saturation problems.
Later, Urkullu will meet with the Portuguese ambassador in Spain, Joao Mira-Gomes, with whom he will also talk about the interconnections of the Atlantic Arc countries.
The lehendakari has publicly shown his discomfort with France's position on various occasions, warning that a matter like this "cannot be exposed to so many changes and so much improvisation", for which he has accused the French and Spanish states of "failing to comply their commitments", which, in their opinion, conditions the policies of the Atlantic communities in a very negative way.
These meetings are held after the meeting that the lehendakari held in March with the highest leaders of Navarra and Nueva Aquitaine in the general assembly of the Euskadi-Navarra-Nueva Aquitaine Euroregion.
In it, the three agreed to demand that France abide by the scheduled schedule for building the high-speed line to Dax, a demand that was also common in the meeting held earlier in Vitoria by the lehendakari and the presidents of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria.
In addition to the French and Portuguese ambassadors, Urkullu has already met with the Chief Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, in an appointment in which they ratified the Basque and Welsh commitment to the Atlantic Macroregion project.
A next meeting with the Lehendakari remains pending, this time with the European Union Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean, to convey the same request to her.
The meetings this Wednesday will be held at the French and Portuguese embassies and will also be attended by the General Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Basque Government, Marian Elorza.
All these movements of the Lehendakari stem from a concern about the feeling that the axis of economic activity and innovation in the European Union is shifting to the east, especially after Brexit.
Urkullu intends to generate pressure in the medium term by focusing on high-speed rail, the green hydrogen corridor, gas connections or innovation.
