Josie Sharp
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez will visit Downing Street in September to mark the beginning on an intense autumn of international summits and diplomatic meetings.
Sanchez’s visit marks the first bilateral meeting between him and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer since the Labour leader assumed office, paving the way for collaboration between the two governments about their post-Brexit relationship.
The ties between the two countries are among Spain’s strongest, with 20 million British tourists visiting Spain each year and substantial Spanish investment in the UK economy.
Britain’s participation in the EU’s €150m defence fund will also be discussed, which Spain has claimed €1bn of to finance eight programmes and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Their views on the Gaza War differ: Spain recognized Palestine in May last year, while Starmer said he would do the same in September if Netanyahu does not end civilian killings and the Gaza siege.
Gaza will undoubtedly be a key topic at the UN General Assembly in New York at the end of September which the president will attend, followed by four international summits in November.
The first summit in November will be COP30, to discuss the global efforts to prevent climate change. It will be held in Belem, in the Brazilian Amazon on 6 and 7 November.
COP30 will be followed a few days later by the EU-Celac (community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summit, will take place in Santa Marta, Colombia.
On November 22 and 23 the G-20 economic summit will be hosted in Johannesburg, and finally the EU-African Union summit in Luanda, Angola, immediately afterwards, all will be attended by Sanchez.
Spain’s president’s meeting with Sir Keir Starmer will kick off a crucial few months of international diplomacy, allowing him to briefly escape his party’s ongoing Koldo political corruption case by the Spanish Supreme Court.
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